Avatar Book Four: Air
by Sokkas Instincts 2
Summary: Sequel to my version of Book 3. With racism towards the Fire spreading like wildfire through Earth and Water the gaang fights with their hands tied to avert another catastrophe even worse than the war they've barely finished. I don't own ATLA. Whadda know
1. Family Reunion

Instinct's Info: After completing Book Three and Six and having no respond to my request on what to do next I've done the stupid thing again: try to juggle both. The updates for this are going to slower so sorry for the one or two die hard fans I have. Anyone that just happened to see this: search Book Three: Fire Instincts because you won't know what's going at all. As it stands though, anyone reading this please review it! I give a review to you for everyone you give me that isn't spam. Okay, enough of my blather. Let the story commence!

Disclaimer: Don't own avatar or anything associated with it. Rayk on the other hand is mine. Hands off!

Chapter One: Family Reunion

One Year After Book Three

One more try at the seemingly impossible. Trying to reverse the fanaticism of Lanorit's following was like trying to turn Sokka into a vegetarian. Nevertheless, Aang found himself with Rayk in a little Earth Kingdom village trying to do just that. Arguing them away from the racism directed at the Fire Nation openly was hard enough, but even mentioning another view of things put you under the spotlight of suspicion. Something that Aang and Rayk couldn't have. They were dressed to avoid it as well. Aang with hood over his face and Rayk with a straw hat throwing shadows over his face.

Their regular strategy for attempting this didn't actually involve a whole lot of talking. It was mostly observing and watching for signs of weakness. They'd try to detect any little bit of doubt anyone had on Lanorit's views then would try to widen them by a little visit in a dream.

Most of the time it didn't do anything and when they succeeded the person was almost expelled from their village immediately. There had been some success though when people where cautious and didn't shout their beliefs to the heavens. Because of their efforts a few seeds of doubt had been planted right at Lanorit's feet.

Not that this was their only hope. Sokka, Toph and Ty-Lee had been working together since the end of the invasion to become a thorn in Lanorit's side. Toph had become one of Lanorit's favourites as she spit out inventions of Sokka's design that were really quite useless in the long run. Lanorit liked them though and continued to let Toph siphon off large chunks of his sect's income.

Katara had been just as busy in the year since she'd taken up residence in the Northern Water Tribe. She'd founded a spiritual front that was supposedly making strides towards communing with the Lord spirit that led the sect. Her only real goal for this group was to be able to leave her body so she could visit Aang more frequently. The group had the added bonus of anyone actually attaining the ability to leave their body at will found that there was multiple spirits meaning that Lanorit's doctrines were a steamy pile moose-bull crap. Because of this there were mutterings of slight unrest in the Northern Water Tribe about its religious views.

Zuko, Azula, and Mai were hiding in Kenji's village, Yaiki, where there was no chance of them being found. Zuko had been working on learning to control his new power since the invasion had ended and was making headway. Azula had been doing the opposite, learning not how to produce but to take. She could draw other's fire into herself and had even started to be able to work just with heat by itself.

* * *

As Aang and Rayk walked down the main street of the town, taking up half of it as they did, they looked left and right for a sign that someone wasn't totally convinced of what they believed in. It was on one such sweep that Rayk spotted the last person he'd thought he would. Jericho was standing with a group of people that were all looking at him intently, listening to every word he said.

Rayk's eyes stayed on him for a moment to long. Jericho saw him staring and recognized him. His eyes narrowed as he continued speaking and started to think of how to get rid of Rayk and whoever the other guy he was travelling was.

Rayk was tugging at Aang's sleeve insistently, muttering the whole time, "Aang, we should get out of here. Agni's about to break loose." Aang turned his head in the direction Rayk was gesturing and spotted Jericho.

Never having seen him before he only noticed a resemblance to Rayk, "Who, the guy that looks like you?"

"That's my dad." Rayk muttered the fear in his voice finally tipping Aang off to the man's intentions.

No sooner had they turned to go, "Wait friends! Come join us! Lanorit's offering a new position in his sect and anyone can apply. Come learn about a bright future!" Jericho smiled warmly at them and Rayk knew from experience that it was a bad sign for them. Rayk started to spew off excuses to his father and each was brushed aside easily. Without any choice remaining they walked towards the group like a pair on the way to the gallows. As the approached and the eyes of the group focused on them Jericho's smile grew malevolent. He reached out a hand to shake towards Aang. Aang shook it hesitantly as their eyes locked. Jericho's hand slipped upwards once it was done and brushed the top of Aang's hood. Rayk watched from the side in horror and it slid back, light streaming onto Aang's shaved head.

Jericho didn't need to do anything else but conceal his grin, which he barely did. The crowd did the rest, "It's the Avatar!" The shout bounced around the village and took a moment to sink in. A moment later there were angry shouts everywhere and people grabbed the sharpest implement near them. Aang and Rayk backed away from the crowd slowly, not bothering with excuses. There was no way to talk out of this situation. A moment later the glanced at each other for confirmation and bolted up the street as fast as they could. The mob of people came after them a second later, its number growing the whole time.

"Split up and regroup at Yaiki. Let things cool down." Rayk told Aang as they dodged around another small group that had formed in front of them. Aang nodded his understanding and shot off down one of the town's few side streets.

The tight confines of the alley stopped him from picking up much speed, but the same could be said for the group that was chasing him and he doubted they were in as good shape as he was. He rounded the corner at the end of the alley and saw it was blocked by a cabbage merchant. He shot off towards the cart in hopes of it slowing down the mob behind him.

He was about to jump through the gap between the carts roof and the cabbage filling it when another group appeared on the other side of it. He was already in the air and sent a blast of air out his feet to slow himself and sunk his hands into the earthen walls on either side of him, leaving a tear through both walls. He skidded to a stop and landed on his feet as the first mob rounded the corner of the alley behind him. Without any other choice he jumped up and grabbed one of the roofs above him and swung onto it. He was more visible up hear, but far harder to catch. Without the walls impeding him he could also move faster. He made the hurricane force winds around his feet and shot out of the village, barely a glimmer in the eye of anyone who saw him.

He landed a few kilometres out of the town in a thicket of wood. He leaned against a tree, catching his breath. He stayed like that for a minute peering out of the trees to see if Rayk would make it out of the town as well. Then he went rigid as a branch creaked above his head.

He looked up and saw two people from Jericho's crowd sitting on branches above him, "Hello Avatar, welcome home."

* * *

Rayk watched Aang shoot off, not doubting his ability to escape at all. He might have more of a problem though. He'd need to be less straightforward then Aang. He looked beside him at the stalls with fruit and vegetables and other farm produce in them. The stalls stopped farther ahead and were replaced by a few shops.

He timed his entry and darted into the first stores door and glanced around quickly. It was empty, probably because the owner was already chasing him. He kicked the back door open and turned and jumped through a side window. He was now lying in the alley between the shops. He rolled out of the view of the window and jumped from each wall, easily finding purchase on the rough walls and landed deftly seconds later on the roof of the store next to the he'd gone into.

He lay there until he heard the mob pile through the store and out the back door and into the alley, now chasing non-existent prey. He waited for a moment, listening to see if his hunch was right. Jericho couldn't have sat out of the mob without looking suspicious and would have gone after Rayk since he'd be easier to catch. Sure enough he heard someone rummaging through the store down below.

Rayk moved to the other side of the roof as quietly as he could and lay there, waiting for the sound of Jericho moving up to check the roof. He saw the hand appear over the edge of the roof and rolled off. He threw out his hands and legs, stopping his fall by bracing himself against the walls of the alley.

He hear Jericho check above on the roof drop back down and look through the store then leave with a disappointed huff. Rayk dropped down into the alley quieter than a cat and stuck his head around the corner, watching Jericho's retreating back. Others drifted out of the alleys as he walked towards the end of the town. None of them said a word and followed without question.

Rayk snuck out of the alley and kept in the shadows as he started to trail Jericho and the band of men that followed him like they were on leashes.

--

Instinct's Info: I know, a bit shorter than normal. I can't change that though. Leave a review and I'll check out one of your stories. If you have any question don't hesitate to ask.


	2. The Rock

Instinct's Info: Sorry for taking so long, impromptu vacations can be a pain the but for story writing. The chapters will continue to take a while to get up just because things are getting complicated, even if they aren't on the surface yet. This is mainly because I finally got every outline done! I'm going up to Book Eight and if I wanted I write the last very last chapter right now. I'm even slightly tempted too...Anyway, Harsh Critic, right a review like that again and both will be deleted unless you give reasons that are tangible. Everyone else, that's including Harsh Critic if you have a change of heart, please review! I take them over alerts and favourites and everything else!

Disclaimer: I don't own ATLA, the band Queen, or Russia

Chapter Two: The Rock

Jericho and his followers walked continued for miles after they were out of they were out of the village. Jericho was still suspicious that Rayk could be following and used every trick he could think of to lose him. He exited the village in the opposite direction he needed to and walked across an expansive field so that Rayk had no cover to hide in. Next he doubled back into a forest that swung from the left of the village far into the distance behind it. Now their trail was obscured by thick foliage which everyone took great care not to break.

Rayk had seen them starting across the field and had formed a plan in under three seconds. He climbed a small tree at the town's edge and gave the bird sitting there a connection to his arm. It flew off to keep track of Jericho. Rayk closed his eyes and began to see a bird's eye view (Terrible pun I know; couldn't resist.). The sun was almost down when Jericho finally stopped. The remnants of a campfire were on the ground and there were a few other people sitting against the trees in the little clearing.

Rayk had the bird give a loud chirp so he heard it. The camp wasn't actually that far from the village. He heard it, released the bird and set off in the direction he'd heard the bird. By the time he was there the fire was relit and there was a pot hanging over it, something bubbling in it. Rayk continued to experiment with his arm as he got closer. He connected it to some bushes and plants in an attempt to clear a path for himself. They moved very slowly so he gave up and continued forward with extreme caution. He perched himself on a strong tree near the clearing so that he could see most of its occupants. He strained to hear the conversation, which he could barely hear.

Jericho was lecturing someone, "For the last time! It shouldn't have been that easy today! With the world in a state of fanaticism almost everyone is paranoid and looking for anyone out of the ordinary. That same thing can be used against us only too easily. That's why need peace: we'll be able to move silently and the populous will be complacent and easier to control."

This surprised Rayk quite a bit. Syh-Shen was the one who had introduced the fanaticism in the first place and he knew that Jericho was on his side, so why would aspect of his plan contradict another so blatantly? The answer struck him a second later: Lanorit and Jericho weren't the same plan. He'd set the other in motion already in case the other didn't pan out the way he wanted, and with them still around there was a very good chance it wouldn't.

As he sat on his branch his mind was reeling and he felt his had slip a little as his concentration waned on his current situation. E fixed his posture and started to think things through. There were still too many unknowns to draw any concrete conclusions though. That could be remedied though.

Rayk steadied himself on the branch and threw his arm towards one of the men in the clearing to see what he knew about the plan. Rayk's initial attempt at sorting through the man' mind was clumsy, but he quickly got the hang of it and sorted through possibilities like flash cards. The mind grabbed his full attention so he didn't see his awkward attempt make the man slop his little bowl of soup he ladled from the pot over the fire across the ground.

He finished shuffling through anything that looked pertinent and noticed Jericho glancing warily around the clearing. Rayk knew he hadn't made a sound so put it down to paranoia. The fact he hadn't found anything surprised even though he knew it shouldn't have. His father only gave information on a need to know basis.

That meant there was only one person that had the information he needed. Rayk sent the power of his arm out and connected with Jericho. The moment he did his eyes snapped from another section of the glade directly to where Rayk was crouched on the branch. Rayk panicked and raced through his father's mind, picking up little bits of information here and there. Jericho was already yelling where he was and the men were rising.

He couldn't risk looking any longer. He chopped the connection off and bolted from the tree, sprinting through the forest, not bothering to try and conceal his path. They were too close for it to matter anyway. The group behind him continued at the same speed he was going only because many of them were readying projectiles. A rock whizzed by Rayk's head, rattling the branches of a tree to his right, an arrow embedded itself in the ground an inch room his heel.

There was a loud crash in front of him as a deer-muskrat fell through a thick patch of underbrush. Rayk knew he'd found his salvation the moment he saw it. There were slashes across its side and although they were wet wasn't with blood.

Rayk sent the power in his arm forward point blank and knew he was right a second later. He jumped and landed on the back of a shirshu. He turned its attention from its prey towards his attackers, nearly getting clubbed by a tree branch in the process.

The appearance of the beast stalled them in their tracks and it was the only hesitation he needed. The paralysis from the poison from the tongue had every man falling seconds later. Jericho walked out of the shadows a moment later with a hard line for a mouth, "What are you trying to do? If I go missing it'll just be blamed on you."

"You would let your son be blamed for your murder?" Rayk knew the answer already, it was necessary for the seed he was getting ready to plant though.

"I wouldn't need to. You and your allies will get blamed for crimes you can't have committed, and the world will swallow it because they want to and are told to. Lanorit would be only too happy to clear your name though. You're enough of a thorn he would happily buy you off if he could."

Rayk smiled sadly, "You don't even know who you're fighting anymore. You don't even know your son." Jericho's brow furrowed when he heard that. It was time to plant the seed there, "You would have me betray people who have showed me more loyalty and love than my own family just so I can live in the open again? When did I become a stranger?"

Rayk still knew his father though. Work obsessed and cold he may have been, but he still had love for his family. It just wasn't enough to take priority over work, "You became a stranger when you joined the losing side." There was sadness doubt in minute amounts in his voice that Rayk managed to pick up. It had worked, "You don't even know what we're planning now."

There was a rustle behind him and Rayk turned for the briefest of moments to see Aang there, "I know more than you do about your own plans."

Aang had gestured that he get him out f there and Rayk was just covering the seed up before he left, "Good luck with her by the way. She likes getting rubbed behind the ears." He was bucked backwards by the shirshu and severed the connection. Aang grabbed him under the arms before he landed and was whisked away before he could see what his dad tried.

* * *

"We're not going to Yaiki." Aang was speaking in a rush because of his excitement. They were standing in the field a good couple miles outside the village with Appa.

"Where would you suggest then?" Rayk asked, playing dumb to Aang's giddiness.

Aang was a little put out with him for not asking why he was happy, but continued anyway, "There's a dormant volcano southeast of the Fire Nation that's called the Sleeping Zephyr. We'll be completely safe there."

That grabbed Rayk's attention, "Why so happy?"

A pair of heads appeared over Appa's saddle. They jumped off and laded beside Aang and Rayk, throwing up clouds of dust bigger than they should have.

"Appa's ready to go." One of them said. He stood two heads higher than Aang and was quite bony. He wore the regular clothes of the Earth Kingdom but they seemed to fit him poorly. The other was similar with rounded features like Aang and half a head shorter than his companion.

"Who are who?" Rayk asked, squinting at them, trying to find what made them seem different from others.

"I'm Rursin and my friend is Fousha. We used to wander but the Sleeping Zephyr was too nice to leave."

"So what are you doing here then?" The thing that separated them from other Earth Kingdom people still eluded him.

"Just trying to find some family."

It finally clicked and a giant smile grew on his face as he turned to Aang, "Congratulations."

* * *

Sokka was trying to enjoy a dreamless sleep, but it seemed that it was impossible. Images formed in his mind and Rayk stood in front of him. They were still inside the cabin on his ship and the only difference between it and reality was the crates of beef jerky stacked around the room.

"We've got to get the Rock finished."

Sokka finished grabbing a handful of jerky from one of the crates and sat down, "Why the rush? I thought we should take break and wait for something to come to us."

"Something's come up with my dad. We need it completed."

"How does it fit into that?" Sokka replied, busily chewing on a piece of the dried meat.

"Right now it doesn't. We might not get another chance to finish it though and it could come in handy in pinch."

"Are you going to tell me whats going on now or am I just going to have to wait until I see you again?" Sokka had learned that Rayk had a nasty habit of holding back details now and again and he knew when it was happening.

"I would tell you if I had everything figured out. As it is there are still a lot of unanswered questions that I need to figure out before I tell anyone."

"Fine. Jerky for the road?" Sokka shrugged his shoulders and offered piece in an outstretched hand. Rayk waved it off and disintegrated in the fur pelts lining the walls.

* * *

Sokka got up when the sun came over the horizon and shot down the short drop into his cabin on board his ship. They'd taken the only dock left in the Southern Water Tribe and it was situated perfectly for the light to shoot through and shock Sokka awake.He rolled out of the bed with a grunt and got ready to tackle the ongoing problem the Rock gave them. The Rock was a meteorite that'd crashed on the Earth Kingdom coast. Sokka had recovered it before any other ships got there and had returned to the Southern Water Tribe to try and see what it was.When he found he didn't have the necessary equipment there he'd brought it to the Bei-Fong R&D facility. Toph had snuck them in and he'd gone to town on it and revealed quite a bit about it. Toph struggled with breaking it in to pieces which slid back together as soon as she rested. If the Rock stayed as a whole the size of a baseball Sokka could mould it into any shape he wanted like it was made of clay, as long as he didn't try to take a piece off.

He'd tried to unravel its secrets for the better part of the year that'd passed since the attempted genocide of the Fire Nation and the answers continued to elude him. Once he'd given the Rock a brief respite from his inquisition he'd brought it back to the Southern Water Tribe where there was no way Lanorit could take it.

The Southern Water Tribe was the only place on the planet now that wasn't biased against the Fire Nation after completely rejecting Lanorit's attempts to win them over. Now they were widely regarded as a hotbed of illegal activity with the authorities doing little to top it with Sokka supposedly becoming the lord of its underworld. That had made Sokka laugh when he'd heard. His certainly didn't rule the tribe illegally, he was away far too much and the only thing illegal that was going was the smugglers that came from all over the world with items they'd nicked from a ports controlled by Lanorit. The items were usually called 'liberated'. This had meant more shady deals, but the people were just as close as they'd ever been.

When the tribe had heard that's what they were viewed they had taken up the name ad tried to make it appear to the world that's what they were. It would make a better cloak for Sokka and all his trips to see Toph and his research projects. Most of the projects had been successes ad were now in use on his ship which he named the Yue as soon as he slipped away from Lanorit's fleet after stealing it right out of dry dock on the day of its completion.

The hull was reinforced and any blow that dented it was deadened by a layer of water beneath it. The water was used by the benders in his crew to form a canopy of ice over the boat. The weight this took away from the boat let them sink it into the water completely and become a sub. The benders forced the ship and the water was sent back into the hull for protection when it needed to rise. He had made numerous other modifications to the ship and it had landed him at public enemy number one, even besting Aang and Rayk.

Sokka walked off the ship and through the harbour, answering all the greetings and questions that he heard. He wasn't ruling the tribe, but he was influential to say the least. The door on a small warehouse melted away at his request and he walked in, "I need the Rock again." He said kindly to the woman that was inside.

She turned around and started to rummage through boxes lining the walls, "That thing again? You give it more attention than your father."

"If I gave this much attention to him he'd boot me out the tribe." He replied as a small box was handed to him. He continued the conversation until someone else came in asking about new shipments and left to return to his boat.

He rang the bell at the helm and started to make the ship ready. Fortunately, his crew were all morning people and they'd hear the bell. They'd gather what they'd need and come. Sokka went below and but the Rock in the hold and made sure the turbine was working. The boat was moved mainly by bending and Sokka had added a turbine to compensate or the lack of sales to help them. It took water in near the surface and let it run down the inside of the ship to turn a turbine that in turn powered a small engine. It didn't add much speed, but it took a lot of the work off the benders.

When he came back on the main deck half of his crew was already there and finished unloading their belongings into their rooms. They dispersed and double checked everything until the rest of the crew came and gathered again on the deck was everyone was ready to go.

It would look strange to many to see a 16 year old giving orders to a group of grown men, but they'd grown used to it and knew he was more than capable. It also helped that he was laissez-faire with most things he told them.

"What are we doing this time? Kyboshing a military outpost? Making a sink-n-stink field in a harbour?" There was only one person besides Sokka on the ship that was under twenty and he held Sokka in very high esteem.

"_I'm _going to work on the Rock again. You'll be doing the usual. Making sure were not caught and enjoying yourselves at Lanorits expense." That had been the plan they'd used the last time Sokka had worked on the Rock. They pretended to employees of the Bei-Fong's and sent the bill to Lanorit's people since the Bei-Fong's had nearly all the contracts he put out.

* * *

He ship glided to a halt along the pier at Yaiki where it glinted slightly in the fading light. It was out of place there. A square bow that lowered for a gangplank and an elevated cabin at the stern for steering and navigation where the trademark of Earth Kingdom boats. Throw in the modified curved sides that were normal for a Water Tribe ship and it stuck out like a sore thumb against the few Fire Nation boots that were moored there.

The last time Sokka had left his research on the Rock he'd had one more hunch on how to separate it but had been unable to test it because of the energy required to do so. If Zuko and Azula came with him he'd be able to test it and quite possibly finish up work with the accursed little ball of rock once and for all.

There was one major difference in the town of Yaiki that had come about after the war: there was far more glass now, a side effect of Zuko's training to control the spirit's power in him. There was considerably less sand on the surrounding beaches now.

Azula was waiting for Sokka at the bottom of the gangplank, "What do we owe the visit to?"

"Rayk said we might need the Rock done soon. I need Zuko's help with it." Sokka had learned that recognizing the slight sarcasm in what she said only brought more on you. He wisely ignored it.

"What did he find?" The sarcasm disappeared abruptly when she heard about Rayk.

"He ran into Jericho. He's still sorting everything out. Do you know where Zuko is, we need to get going? We can only dock at night."

"Mai's going to get him, he'll be here shortly." She paused for a second, "I'm coming with you. If Rayk thinks we need it done we definitely do." A few minutes later Zuko and Mai arrived, bags already packed. Mai tossed one to Azula before she could say anything. The gangplank was pulled up and the boat backed out of the harbour, barely making a ripple.

* * *

"What do you need me for?" Zuko asked, his question directed at Sokka's back as he was steering the ship.

"What do you think Sparky?" Azula asked, snidely referring to his affinity for lightning.

"There's been pieces of rock found that attract each other once they're struck by lightning." Sokka interjected before a fight could break out, "They've been named magnets. You should be able to tell if it is and work with it. Actually, if it is Azula can make it a normal rock so we can work with it easier. Zuko, all you'd have to do is shock it again and it'd probably go back to normal."

Zuko continued his heated stare towards Azula but eventually replied, "Fine, I'll go check it out right now. It's in your hold right?"

"Yeah it is. Find Bato though, you won't be able to get in there without the key." Sokka yelled over his shoulder as Zuko went out the door, "Hope he heard that." He added when the door clanged shut.

"He'll figure it out eventually." Azula answered.

"Hopefully before he trips the alarm. He's going to do need quite a few baths if he does." The boat shook slightly a second later and a thin trail of smoke drifted out from the stairway to the hold. Zuko's stumbled out coughing, but otherwise unharmed.

Sokka peered out the window at Zuko, "Hmm, didn't skunk-fish blubber was combustible."

* * *

Instinct's Info: I'm trying to emphasize Sokka's smarts for inventing and the like here. Tell me if it's working. A review about anything else would be great too.


	3. Internal Compass

Instinct's Info: A shorter chapter for me, I know. If anyone actually read five and six they'll get the connection with what's made this chapter. Let me know what you think thus far via a review! Please! I'm used to the amount I got from Book Three!

Disclaimer: Until I control the masses through mind control Avatar is not mine.

Chapter Three: Internal Compass

The Yue rose from the water slowly. The rock ceiling of the cave still hovered over them, no more than a foot above the water. There was a splash nearby and Sokka turned to see Ty-Lee in bright pink gesturing in the water looking like a seriously confused lantern.

The ground under the R&D department was honeycombed so Toph could move around a small cave with almost no effort at all. It had to be moved once in a while because of the department's expansion. Ty-Lee was just showing them to the new location.

The Yue surfaced completely in a cavern that was more room than cave. The floor was still bare rock for Toph's sake but the walls were metal with shelves lining them with odds and ends on every one. There was a large table in the center of the room. He ship took up a large portion of the space, but there was still more than enough room to move around comfortably. There was a crystal lattice on the ceiling giving off a watery glow. It had taken a long time to get it here from the Crystal Catacombs.

As soon as Ty-Lee climbed out of the water she gave off a high pitched squeal of joy and threw herself into Zuko for a hug. The look of horror on his face just before impact gave Mai and Azula a good laugh.

"Zuzu! It's so good to see you!" She paused for a moment and gave him an intent stare, "You've grown a little." Zuko didn't respond he just looked at his sopping wet shirt.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Ty-Lee said once she noticed what she'd done. She left with a twinkle in her eye that made Zuko shiver. The last time she'd made him something it had involved kitten-rabbits and truck loads of pink. She'd started to bawl if he didn't promise to where it around the palace. She came back with a fold of fabric which stopped them dead because of one thing: you couldn't see pink. She'd apparently realized that most people couldn't look at the amount of pink she liked and even fewer could stand to wear it. Instead she'd settled on a red robe with lightning coming from the edges.

Zuko took it a little uncertainly, believing it almost too good to be true. When he went to put it on though he saw she hadn't completely given up. The inside lining was fluorescent pink.

"Something to remember me by." Ty-Lee giggled at him once he'd noticed.

The crew of the Yue followed Sokka and the others off after and Toph shrugged towards a crate near the wall, "The uniforms are in there." The uniforms did away with making individual disguises for them. Once they'd picked one that fit, Toph ripped one of the metal sheets of the wall and showed a tunnel leading upward. "There's rooms off the tunnel to change before the door. It leads out into the back of the compound." Toph explained as she walked to the big table in the middle of the room.

Zuko finished putting the robe on a moment later, he'd wrapped the robe around him tightly to stop any glimpse of the inner lining showing. The rest of them had gathered around the table in the middle and Sokka had the Rock laid at the centre of it. The Rock was a gray-ish black and spiky, making it send off clanks when it rolled across the table.

Zuko looked at the others then at the Rock then back at Ty-Lee who was trying to play dumb. He reached across the table and the pink seemed to glow from underneath, making him cringe. He snatched the Rock amid Azulas laughter and focused on it.

Less than a second later, "It's got a lightning storm in it." He tossed the Rock back onto the table with a clang and resumed holding the robe to his body. The room seemed to dim a little without the pink lighting it.

"Let's see how much power this thing has." Azula reached across and grabbed it. Her eyes widened a little in surprise, the small reaction meaning absolute astonishment, "This could take a while." She conceded after a moment.

Once she heard that Toph shifted her attention to Sokka, "Come one, you're showing me your ship."

"My hip?" Sokka had only half heard her when she grabbed his arm and dragged him off towards the Yue. She stepped onto the deck gingerly, seeming to test to see if it was solid.

"You redid the turbine." She stated once she planted her feet on the deck. He learned a few things about mechanics from all the time she'd spent with him over the past year.

"Yeah, it spins easier and gets the same power with less water." He beamed at his own genius. He was punched in the arm for it.

"You're gonna have to seal that lower hold. You don't want that stuff to ignite." She pointed at a nondescript patch of the deck.

Sokka didn't blink at that, what he did was the fact she thought the magma balls would actually ignite, "Why would they? They're perfectly stable at this temperature."

"Yeah and Azula is dragging a lightning storm out of the hunk of space rock. The heats gotta go somewhere."

"How did you know that she's..." Sokka had started to realize much sooner when he was walking into one of Toph's "I'm blind!' jokes.

"Oh that's right! The blind girl can see around corners!" She usually went ahead with them anyways. Sokka swallowed an attempt at a retort and ran down and sealed the hold. Sweat started to glean on his forehead on his way back up. He crossed his fingers as he came back up onto the deck.

"Your ship's fine Snoozles. You can stop looking like Lo and Li." She grinned when Sokka started to glare at her then realized it was pointless, "Scored again."

"If I recall I was doing better than you at this before so don't get so cocky." He countered as suavely as you can after getting insulted three times in a row.

"I haven't." She replied as she grabbed his arm again and dragged him off the ship, giving his arm a little hug as they went.

--

It took Azula nearly an hour to vent enough energy from the Rock to allow Toph to bend it normally. The heat had been vented by Toph through another tunnel into a furnace above them so it wouldn't be noticed. Once it was an acceptable temperature in the room again Toph broke the Rock into nine parts, one for each of them. Sokka went to one of the shelves on the wall and picked nine cylinders of metal off it. He brought them back to the table and put them down. They were compasses with a space in the arrow for a piece of rock to fit in.

By this time Zuko had managed to talk Mai into lending him one of her knives which he was using to keep the robe firmly closed. He shocked each of the rocks and they sprang together, though not with the gusto they used to have. Toph forced them apart and everyone grabbed one of the pieces and fastened it into their compass. The remaining pieces were grabbed a moment later as the compasses for Aang, Rayk, and Katara were made.

With the compasses completed it would be possible for them to locate one another wherever they were. If they could do that a great deal more could be accomplished if needed, or so Rayk had convinced them. The use of knowing where each of them was didn't seem all that useful to some of them.

--

There wasn't a kitchen, or even any food for that matter, in the cave so they had all been seated in the mess hall of the Yue. Once they'd got there Sokka had attempted to start to cook something when he'd been hauled out of the kitchen before he did something terrible.

Zuko started on making some tea which he'd become adept at during his time in Yaiki. Ty-Lee was booted out shortly after for tending to add far too much sugar to everything. Azula was obviously out of her element, but the situation seemed to keep Mai interested and between the two of them they made something that surpassed the expectation of the others.

Halfway through the meal Ty-Lees brow wrinkled and she looked up from her plate.

"Told you we didnt stir it enough. Theres patches of fire flakes stuck together in it." Mai said as she glanced at Azula.

"No, theyre more like...patches!(1) Oh, and Aangs here. " As soon as she said it everyones head whipped around the room in search of the air bender, he wasnt anywhere to be seen though.

Everyone began to realize what shed meant and she explained anyway, "Hes in spirit form. He said to bring the three compasses to an island called the Sleeping Zephyr.

--

Instincts Info: This chapter may seem a little shaky to some people. Think things through before you complain that things aren't explained. I havent' made any mistakes so any conclusions you make are most likely correct. I'm thinking about starting a forum just about how things should probably happen after the war. Tell me if it would interest you. Anyway, please leave a review.

1 So sue me. I wanted some Ty-Lee humour and couldn't think of anything.


	4. The Central Air Temple

Instinct's Info: Yeah, I know, the title gives it away. If you haven't caught on to what's happening with Aang and Rayk yet it's spelled out here. Once you've read it hit that magical purple button at the bottom. It's like a push peddle to a pace maker for me.

Disclaimer: My mind control isn't working so I don't own ATLA...yet. insert maniacal laughter here

Chapter Four: The Central Air Temple

Toph stood stoically at the lip of the water as the Yue slipped below the water. Sokka had a hunch that something was up after what Aang had said, so he decided to keep his crew out of it. The Yue was being manned by all members of the gaang who were present, discluding Toph who had to stay as her presence in the Earth Kingdom was too big to suddenly go missing.

So Sokka was standing on the deck of his ship waving through the ice shell the water benders had made for him just before they left. He knew Toph couldn't see it, but it made him feel better about leaving so suddenly. He figured she probably knew he was doing it too.

Their biggest problem about leaving had been that without water benders the ship would want to float to the surface once the dome was up so a ladder had been brought and Azula was now sitting at the top of it, snatching the heat of any water that leaked through a crack in the ice ceiling from its abrasion with the cave roof. She'd grumbled a little at first, but resigned herself as she was the only one that could handle it.

* * *

The trip to the Sleeping Zephyr had been surprisingly uneventful. Sokka had become so used to something going wrong that it unnerved him. It was nice twist on their travels though and one that he sorely hoped would become prevalent.

This was not be as the coast of the Sleeping Zephyr was made of volcanic rock so it was rough and jagged; not the best place to moor a boat. Sokka guided the Yue around its coast until he thought he spotted a river they could go up. The river was deeper than it looked and the Yue glided up it. When it was fully in the river the ground on either side behind them slapped together, making the Yue land locked.

Sokka's head shot to either side of the closed river, fearing the worst when Aang and Rayk came out of foliage on one side. Aang had a big smile playing on his face and Rayk's was being over by a frown and a similar smile.

"So, what mess did you find this time?" Azula asked while giving Rayk a hug.

"Nothing new, I just found out our current one's deeper than we thought." He replied, the grin finally taking his face over at her presence.

Aang barely wasted any time at all on greetings, so impatient was he to introduce them to his people, "Hey Sokka. Have a safe trip?" Sokka barely started to shake his head when he continued, "Great, come on!" Sokka was dragged off into through the sparse forest like he'd been with Toph. Rayk led the others on the same path at an easier pace, calmly deflecting any questions that they asked about what was going on.

Rayk and the others caught up with Aang at a rock face loaded with shells. Aang was just winding up for an air blast when they saw them. The blast hit the wall and disappeared, apparently being siphoned off into the shells. A moment later the shells rippled in movement as they flipped everyway in a pattern the eyes couldn't track. A moment later the rock face cracked open and a dimly lit passage with torches every ten feet or so was revealed.

Sokka planted his feet before Aang could drag him off into the tunnel, "Okay, just wait! Where the heck are you taking us?"

Rayk grabbed Sokka by the shoulder to get his full attention, "Just trust the kid. He's been right most of the time hasn't he?" Sokka was about to bring a rebuttal to bear but decided against it. Aang was psyched about something so what was the point of wrecking the excitement he got out of this?

The rest of the group followed Sokka's lead and dropped any further questions. They followed in silence, the tunnel seeming to suppress any attempt at conversation. The walk through the tunnel was far more tiring than it should've been, so Sokka concluded that they were going uphill a little. Now that he thought about what could there possibly besides rock and magma if they were going towards the central chamber of a dormant volcano?

The end of the tunnel wasn't marked by darkness, but a more natural shine of light than the ones given off by the torches. It still wasn't all that bright. The tunnel walls were staggered at the ends so they came out walking parallel to the inside of the volcano. What they saw made even Mai's jaw drop.

Hanging from the ceiling of the cavern were spires that stretched down towards the floor that was hundreds of metres below them. The odd thing about the spires was that they weren't natural, there were levels to each of them and it was even possible to see doors and windows. Even more amazing were the people that skimmed between them. There were gliders darting around the cavern on the zephyrs the latent heat of the volcano gave off.

The view itself was awe inspiring, but knowing that you were watching people that were thought to have been eradicated over a century before made it one of the moments that stay with you forever. Aang wasn't looking at the view, instead choosing to watch the others. The smile on his face was now accompanied by tears in his eyes.

Sokka made his eyes never leave the image as he felt his way over to Aang and threw an arm around his shoulder, "You're one lucky guy." It took another few minutes for everyone to come back to their senses. After that Aang led them along a little path that wound up ever so slightly around the cavern. The path ended when they were mid way up the spires themselves. There was a rope tethered around a rock on the path that had another rock tied to the end of it for weight.

Aang undid the knot and handed it to the closest person, "Don't push too hard. You make it to the bottom of that spire easily."

"Should've told _me_ that before I swung." Rayk grumbled, rubbing his side gingerly. The rope had a little slack in it and with a little push of wind made it back to the path easily. The whole group was across and onto the spire in less than two minutes. A set of stairs wound upwards around it and they followed it, still taking in the sight of the place until they came to an open area that had five pillars connecting the floor and ceiling. There were benches made of rock placed in it. There were cushions on top so no one suffered a sore butt.

"All right, now that we're in Aang's new home and you've got all the good news it's time for the bad stuff." Rayk grimaced as he said it and all eyes became riveted on him.

Sokka immediately got a scared look in his eyes, "The spires are going to fall! I knew it!"

"No, that's not it. If I could explain what"

"The volcano's gonna blow! Everyone out!"

"Sokka?"

"Yes?"

"Please stay quiet." Rayk paused for a moment to make sure he would, then began again; "There is nothing wrong with this place that isn't wrong with the rest of the world. The problem is us." He paused for a moment for the confused look to appear on everyone's face, "Cordow has somehow become aware that we had a hand in undermining his efforts to kill of the Fire Nation. Because of that he's settled on simply waiting until we're gone. That means we have to find a way to keep ourselves alive until he tries to make another move."

"So you're saying we have to live for more than a lifetime. Sounds kinda boring." Mai intoned.

"There may be ways to speed the process up a little. I found out two things about what he's planning. One is that his next plan involves my dad, so it's likely that he'll do the same thing he did with Jet. The second thing is that the plan needs the world to have peace and complacence. That means that Lanorit has to go. Syh-Shen has already started to call himself Cordow for the next plan to stop any connections being made. That means that he's already foreseen Lanorit's downfall. He's supposed to be the Lord leading Lanorit's religious sect so that means that he can't have a hand in destroying it. Therefore he's counting on us to take him down. So who knows when the best time is to try and deceive someone?"

He glanced around eth group, apparently looking for an answer until Sokka spoke up, "When everything's going according to plan."

Rayk smiled a little, "Right. It's obviously still in our interests for Lanorit to go down. We'll help Cordow out and take him down. While we're doing that though we'll fake our deaths to make him think he doesn't have to wait as long."

"One problem with what you're saying." Azula said, her arms crossed to show she was thinking, "The way you've been fighting back against Cordow isn't going to be able to give him solid evidence of our deaths."

Rayk nodded thanks to her, "No offence meant to any of you, but I was the one that had the biggest hand in orchestrating Lanorit's kybosh when he attacked the Fire Nation. Cordow's more concerned about me than any of you; and don't worry about the evidence of my death. I'm sure something will come up." His smile made everyone's else's waver a little.

"In the mean time we have to find a way to get Toph and Katara back here. We're going to need all the help we can get when it comes."

Sokka immediately brightened, "I know how to get Toph here!" Rayk looked at him genuinely surprised he had a plan so quickly, "When I came here I left my crew at her complex. All she has to do is try to move to another location and I'll be able to pick her up on the trip. My crew will be on the ship she's on. The Yue dives and comes up under her boat. Toph blows the bottom out and we're away with my crew to boot!"

"Nice plan. You think of this before you left?" Rayk asked, slightly in disbelief. Sokka just grinned at him, letting him think what he wanted.

* * *

Instinct's Info: Ah, it's all starting to come together. I've reached the conclusion that once I'm done this story I'll go back onto book five and begin to revise it. I didn't check if the chapters uploaded correctly and there are some terrible mistakes in there. Anywho, please review. The only one I have so far is a flame and although they may be entertaining I prefer an actual review over it.


	5. Guiding the Blind

Instinct's Info: This story is supposed to be lower on the priority list than my Naruto one. The only problem is that my beta is taking forever with the Naruto fic. Because of this I'm writing far faster for this story. So if he actually gets his rear in gear the updates for this will get slower. There is, however, a way to prevent this (the rambling does have a purpose!). Start reviewing and this story will start to take priority. Go on, do it, you know you want to.

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar, Hilroy Notebooks, or Wal-Mart

Chapter Five: Guiding the Blind

Sokka was still feeling rather pleased with himself. He'd made a plan faster than Rayk normally did and it was good enough to probably avoid him getting a punch in the shoulder from Toph if she found out he was still bathing in narcissism. Rayk, in stark contrast, was having a hard time coming up with anyway to extend their life spans indefinitely. The reason why was obvious. He hadn't moved from where he was after Sokka had left the compasses for himself, Aang, and Katara. Azula kept him company as he stayed on the bench, in the same position Aang normally meditated in.

The others had agreed to help Sokka get his boat back to Toph's complex and Aang had his glider to get ashore so the boat didn't need to get near it. Sokka was still suffering from a mild case of paranoia because of the uneventful trip to the Sleeping Zephyr. He actually let someone else steer the ship as he kept a look out with a telescope he'd made.

As land came into view so did patrol boats. Sokka yelled to Ty-Lee at the helm to stop which she did a few seconds later after she'd figured out how. The boat lurched to a stop and a few harsh glares were directed towards Ty-Lee for it. The sun was already setting and Aang didn't have to wait very long before he was able to cruise off the boat under cover of darkness towards the shore. Aang was going ashore first to gather the water benders back to the Yue and to tell Toph that Sokka would be coming by later so she could be in the cave waiting.

He whizzed through the darkness, his eyes focused solely on the lights that the R&D department gave off. He barely remembered to look down at the patrol boats as he cruised over them. It wouldn't have mattered, they were completely oblivious to him. He landed on the shore with no more noise than the breeze would've and started towards the wall of the compound.

Now the hard part was finding Toph or the benders. Either one would point to the other but finding either first was going to be a problem. Aang didn't think he'd have to wait too long. His reserve of good karma had to be through the roof after everything his life had put him through.

The stockpile of karma did come in handy in his search as he'd barely touched down on the inside of the wall surrounding the place when Toph appeared from the ground.

Evidently she'd felt him on the wall, "What are you doing here Twinkletoes?" She asked, not sounding all that happy at him being here without even a disguise.

"You need to come back with us. Rayk's working on a plan and he needs all of us. Sokka'll be in the cave later to explain the plan to you and the crew. He needs a one of them right now though. You know where they are?" Aang talked in a rushed whisper, hoping for once that Toph would take his lead so no one would hear them.

No such luck, "I'm thinking the benders when you say crew. They're probably in the mess hall right now doing what they do best: slow down every worker near them." She replied just as loudly as she had before. Her stomach rumbled at the thought of the mess hall.

"Okay, be down in the cave in half an hour. We should be there by then." Aang left as quickly as he could, still worried that someone would hear Toph and come to investigate. He leapt onto the roof and froze in position, taking in the vibrations coming from everywhere in the complex.

He took a little longer than he would've liked to locate the mess hall and then set off for it. He wasn't precise enough to be able to tell who was sitting where. He kept to the roofs and made his way towards the right building. Once he was there it was easy to spot the water benders. They stuck out because they were the only ones that weren't there to do work.

Aang waited patiently outside until they got up to leave. He scooped a chunk out of the roof of rock and waited over the door. When it opened and they came out he dropped the clump of earth beside them so they'd look up.

One of them did and he waved so they'd see him. After that the group continued like nothing had happened until they were in a secluded spot of the compound.

Aang dropped from the roofs once he'd made sure no one followed them, "Okay, Sokka needs you back on the ship. We're probably going to need a quick getaway tomorrow."

"What's the plan, we finally going to blow this place?" The kid on the crew seemed to think his life was an action movie with an explosion being the primary problem solver.

Aang let out a sigh laced with impatience, wondering how long it would be before the kid realized, "Violence is never the answer." He intoned calmly, hoping his voice would make the words more powerful. "So no, we're not blowing anything up. Sokka will tell you the plan down in the cave. I need you to find the other crew members and wait there with Toph. I need one of you to come with back to the ship so we can get it to the cave." Aang could get the ice over the deck, but keeping the boat under the water was proving a little too much.

One volunteered that was a little braver than the others and grabbed onto the glider and awaited lift off. Aang had to make a vacuum around his mouth so his yells of terror and excitement didn't alert anybody.

* * *

The Yue surfaced in the cave for the second time where a small crowd was waiting for them, Toph at the front along with Bato with a look of curiosity on his face, "Mind telling us what this plan of your is all about?" His voice sounded the same as when he was telling the daring the exploits of himself and Hakoda.

"With Rayk's thinking we're going to need Toph with us. We shouldn't be able to kidnap her in her own element so we're going to do it in our own element. Toph, you'll have to make an announcement about moving to another compound, preferably an island. When you're transported on the boat along with some of the other projects we'll come up underneath the ship. The ice shell will be extended to the bottom of your boat. You blow the hull out and we collect you and the projects, seal the hull up and sail away."

"Won't Toph's boat have some steering problems once we attach?" Bato asked, just a tiny bit worried.

"That's why some of you will be on it. Just make excuses to divert attention. When Toph makes the exit get out with her." Sokka answered smugly. He was proud of his plan. It seemed more foolproof than most of the others.

"And why should I move? Didn't I pick this place from all over because of how good it was supposed to be?"

That gave Sokka pause for a moment, "Umm, okay, you're just going on vacation?" It was a question just because he was spit balling.

"Good thinking Snoozles." She gave him a weak punch in the arm. He smiled at the compliment despite the charlie horse.

--

Rayk finally got up from the Lotus and sat back down immediately as his muscles cried out from lack of use. The first part of the plan was thought out at least. With Toph returning with Sokka, Lanorit's war with the Water Tribes was one step closer to happening. Now all that was left to do was to bring Katara back with the same reason and they could move forward with the war.

--

Instinct's Info: I realized that Rayk was probably looking too good. The last part is meant to show that although he might say one thing there might be other reasons that he's not saying. How much he actually knows is coming just give me a little bit. Now, the almighty Lord Momo commands you to review!


	6. Abduction

Instinct's Info: Thanks to jellebie for the review, it's much appreciated. Anyway, I would like to apologize for a little foolishness. I realized why Book Three keeps getting hits halfway through this and I wanted to cry I felt so stupid. One other announcement: I like to hint and insinuate so go with what your gut's telling you if you notice something isn't said. At least 90 of the time I've put in enough to give you the correct answer. Now then, review and on with the story!

Chapter Six: Abduction

Toph hate waiting. She knew it was strange for her to dislike it, seeing as she **waited** and listened in a fight, but she really wanted to get the day going. The thought of finally getting out of the complex gave her a happy disposition. The thought of getting more time with Sokka made the disposition even larger. It probably didn't help that she was actually well rested. She'd forced herself to sleep that night for the simple reason that she was going to need to be alert to know when she had to tear the hull of her boat open.

To a normal person the very idea of destroying the bottom of their boat was ludicrous. She wasn't a normal person though and trusted Sokka implicitly when it came to situations like that. He'd have the shell there to stop the water, guaranteed.

She sat near the door, feeling everyone move around throughout the complex. She was counting the watches. She knew the time she usually got up and was counting the watches, estimating when she could go outside and not arouse much suspicion, not that what she was going to be doing wouldn't. While she waited she played with her compass tip. She reformed the piece of rock into all sorts of shapes, unconsciously settling on a footprint. It stayed like that at the tip of the compass.

When enough watches had gone by she opened the door and walked out, sticking out already because she wasn't squinting from the sunlight. She felt out the Site Supervisor, Muki, and found him where he usually was in the morning. Giving a pep talk to a group of unfortunate workers about how important their job was.

Toph made her way towards the group of unfortunate workers in his office and poked her head in the door, "Hey Muki, I'm going on a trip. The place is yours." She attempted to get her head out of the doorway before he started asking too many questions. She could already feel him getting up and heard the workers breathe a sigh of relief at someone drawing his attention away from them.

"Miss Bei-Fong! Wait! I'll provide you with a crew."

"No need already got one." Specifically the one that manned the Yue for the most part.

"Supplies?"

"Got 'em already." Muki began to try and ask another question as Toph walked away and she turned to stop the barrage, "Muki, stop the inquisition. I'm just going on a little vacation."

"You haven't told anyone though. The patrols won't know what to do!"

'Crap,' she thought, 'didn't think of that. Oh well, the Yue's under the water so it doesn't matter.'

"So I'll tell them. It's not like they'll stop me." Toph started to walk away again and cast a silencing glance over her shoulder to stop any further questions. Muki didn't bother following her any longer and turned to go back to his office and finish his speech when he noticed the workers were already moving in different direction, some running.

Toph's parents had insisted on her having a 'personal' one of everything at the compound, the remnants of their overprotective side still showing. After hearing what she'd done during the invasion of the Fire Nation they'd given a wider leash, initially because of her position in regards to Lanorit. Now it was more because they weren't quite seeing her as a weak little blind girl anymore.

She didn't really see the point of having a personal boat, especially if it was named the HEKS Mudskipper. A name like that _really _(sarcasm cough cough) inspired confidence. She hated sailing and the only reason she suffered trips now and again was because of the earthen section of the boat where she stayed. She could see far easier on it and she didn't get motion sickness on it.

Bato was waiting for her with a restrained smile. He bowed as she approached and got a punch in the arm for the formality. He laughed under his breath for a moment before following her up the gangplank, motioning for it to be raised as he went.

Toph stayed on the deck once they cast off to talk to Bato, "We have a little problem. The patrol boats are going to stop us. Just let me do the talking and we'll be fine."

"Wouldn't be a proper plan if something didn't go right." He muttered sarcastically, and then thought she might like to know what crew had done, "We put the projects that Sokka wanted in your place. It'll take less time to unload them that way." She nodded confirmation and left before seasickness hit her.

* * *

Sokka had anchored the Yue at the complex's docks. Now he was standing on deck looking out the ice shell at the bottom of the boats. The picture had a surreal quality that the water above him seemed to give everything. He really wished Toph could see it. He waited to see one of the boat's props spin and turn out white froth. That would be Toph leaving.

He'd thought about the patrol boats after he'd left. There wasn't anything he could do about them. He'd wait for her to pass by them and then they'd make the 'abduction'. The patrol boats shouldn't follow so they wouldn't have to deal with them at all really.

As Toph's boat set off the Yue's anchor was raised and they set off after them. Ty-Lee was still steering and she'd improved tremendously. Sokka saw the hulls of the patrol boats come into view and Toph's little boat come to a stop. After a minute Toph's boat continued but the patrol boats continued with her. Sokka groaned; something _always_ happened.

* * *

Everything had gone according to plan perfectly and that's what had got them Toph and the others into this mess. Te patrol boats had hailed Toph and she'd explained in her blunt and aggressive way what she was doing. Then the next watch had come in. The pair of boats she was talking too had taken it upon themselves to escort her to her destination which she'd had to make up off the top of her head.

Toph had panicked a little when this happened, not that she'd ever tell anyone that. She'd gathered everyone that was coming with her at the bottom of the hold so they could leave at a moment's notice. She didn't want to risk the Yue being connected any longer than it needed to be.

* * *

Sokka yelled to the benders and Ty-Lee and the Yue rose slowly until the top of the shell was just touching the hull of the Mudskipper then a few of the benders froze the water separating the two and opened the shell so that the hull was clearly visible.

The Yue groaned as it changed to fit the speed of the other ship. They could hear the same thing happening to the Mudskipper too. A moment later a section of the hull was torn out and a shower of earth poured down. It stopped an inch from the deck and slowly withdrew, leaving a heap of projects behind it.

They were quickly cleared out of the way and the earth came down again, this time with people on it. Toph raised herself up again and resealed the steel hull. The connection between the two was broken a moment later. As soon as Toph stepped back onto the deck she latched onto Sokka's arm as it seemed like a way to get rid of seasickness.1

Seeing as the plan had gone off without a hitch so far the universe decided to toss a wrench into the works.

It was Aang's worried expression that tipped Sokka off first, "Don't say it; we have a major problem, don't we?"

"We're running out of breathable air." Aang confirmed.

Sokka thought for a second before he started issuing orders to the benders and Ty-Lee, "We need to be going another direction, doesn't matter what! I need us up on the surface with a fog bank. They can't know where we came from. Pour on as much speed as you can once we're up there."

Ty-Lee spun the helm a second later which caused them all to lurch sideways crazily. Sokka actually had to catch Toph mid fall. Right after that everyone felt pressure on their legs as the Yue surged upwards. Right before they broke the surface the warped view of the sky was blocked by thick gray fog.

The Yue breached the surface of the water like a whale. He landed with a huge splash that the benders mercifully redirected as the ice shell came down. If you could hear heads turn you would've heard the crews of the other boats turn their heads towards the fog bank that had just materialized.

As the Yue came out of the fog bank there was a yell from one of the other boats, "Halt your progress immediately. Do not attempt to go further."

The kid on the crew replied in kind a moment later, "That's what she said! Oohhhh!!"

"I think I like your jokes better." Toph muttered to Sokka when the more juvenile members of the crew finished laughing. The Yue started to pick up speed a moment later and shot away from the boats far faster than they could hope to travel. Within 45 minutes they were lost from sight and the Yue changed headings to head towards the Central Air Temple.

* * *

Instinct's Info: A little childish humour (well, maybe childish isn't the right word) for you. I'll reiterate some of what I said at the top: I would really like reviews!

1 I believe Toph's aversion to this method of travel is psychological. She finds something to calm her she's all set.


	7. Home Away From Home

Instinct's Info: Nothing to put here really. I started a new story for anyone who wants to read it. It's a far faster pace than this one is, well, will be is better. There's only one chapter so far. Back to the norm: please review, they mean the world to me!

Chapter Seven: Home Away From Home

"Whoa." Toph's eyes shot open in surprise when she got off the boat and could see clearly again. She'd just got her first good look at the Central Air Temple and it had the same effect on her as it had everyone else. That was kind of surprising since she couldn't actually know that the people in it were air benders.

"The only hard part is getting to it." Sokka warned her.

She squinted a little, concentrating, "Great, a rope. Everyone knows I just _love_ having my feet leave the ground."

"I'll help you, don't worry about it." Sokka smiled at her as they started towards the entrance.

He stopped, apparently considering something before he turned around, "Bato, I'm leaving you in command. You can stay or go, it's up to you."

"It's safer here with fewer people knowing about it. We'll make sure we weren't followed." He turned and got the crew back on the ship. Aang and the others filed off and started towards the entrance to the temple.

"Looks like you were busy Twinkletoes." Toph commented. It was assumed it was about the temple.

"What? Oh, I just refined it a little. Not all the Air Nomads were monks apparently. I'd never heard of anyone that wasn't and apparently no one else had either. Some of us lived in the Earth Kingdom and when some settled on this island the some earth benders in the family made it for them."

"There's people in there?" Toph blinked.

Aang blinked back, "You can't feel them? A few should be on the pillars at least."

"What are you talking about? They'd have to be...Way to go Twinkletoes!" One jubilant punch in the shoulder later and she gave him a loose hug. It almost seemed like it was unnatural for her, probably because it was usually Sokka's arm.

Aang barely rubbed his shoulder, used to the punches. Less than a minute later they'd reached the entrance and Aang sent a blast of air at it and it rolled open. The tunnel seemed to suppress conversation like it had last time and no one spoke until they came back to the rope.

Aang snapped his glider open and shot off like a bullet. Toph wanted to delay the inevitable and waited until she was the only one left.

Sokka called over to her, "Come on Toph, I'll catch you."

"It's pretty comfy over her actually." She answered; there was no strength in though.

"You know I'll catch you. Come on!" Sokka called over, pleading even though he didn't have to. It was clear when Toph was going to swing after that as she yelled to try and psych herself up for it. Sokka realized his mistake as soon as she left the ground. No one had told her to go slow. She flew through the air and crashed into him. Both fell backwards and rolled to a stop.

"Good thing you landed on something soft." Sokka muttered sarcastically with a wheeze as he recovered his breath.

Toph rolled off him and got to her feet a little shakily, "If you'd told me I wouldn't have done that."

Rayk's voice sounded close to them, "Toph must have come there was an earthquake."

"Come here so I can give a big hug." Toph answered threateningly.

"Just get over here, dinner's ready." Toph settled with a punch in the shoulder. Just like Sokka, Rayk barely flinched.

--

Unlike the meals at every other air temple, there was meat in this one. The temple wasn't just home to monks so meat was present, though not in large amounts. Sokka was forced to give up his monopoly on it after almost everyone ganged up on him.

After the meal the climate was much more relaxed and Rayk took the opportunity to get some help from Sokka, "All right, I got a few ideas to keep us around indefinitely."

"Does any of it involving getting rid of Lanorit?" Sokka asked hopefully, he was tired of playing the villain.

"No, but that will happen, don't worry. I've got three ideas, two really. One is to do what Aang did. We seal ourselves inside an iceberg. The problem that poses is that we won't know where we'll end up so we might be able to help when we're needed. The second option is to find a way to get all of us to the spirit world. I needed Iroh's help and that took a lot out of him. We'd all need to go at the same time to land in the same place. The last way is to fake our deaths and hope Cordow is encouraged by our deaths and makes his move early. That's not really likely, but it could work."

Sokka lay down onto his back, a little peeved at having to think on a full stomach, "Well, I'm sure we could get some of the people from the Southern Water Tribe to keep track of the iceberg if we had to. I think the spirit world is our best bet. It doesn't leave many loose ends."

Rayk's shoulder slumped a little, "Why is the hardest one always the one with the biggest pay off? Okay, I'll get to work on it."

In truth Rayk was much farther along in the plan than he let on. He'd started to guess what Cordow was planning next time already as he had a pretty good idea of what he'd tried to do before. By eliminating 

two elements that weren't opposite the world would fall into chaos. With Lanorit there things would turn out different than they normally would. The destruction of the world held nothing of interest for Cordow so that wasn't his goal. Lanorit, therefore, must be there to unite the remaining nations. That would be their only way out they wouldn't really have a choice. After that Cordow would have complete control of the world and could whatever he wished.

With the information he'd gleaned from Jericho's mind Rayk had been able to start to fit pieces together for the next plan as well. He'd caught glimpses of the world being brought under a completely new flag which meant that either a new nation would emerge or there would be a coup somewhere to raise an army. He guessed the second as it was far easier if the world's populations where complacent.

There were two main possibilities after this. One was that an army would actually be raised to march across the world. With Cordow's help it would be possible to win. The appropriate response to this would be to have them come back and sweep the floor with the army. Rayk had no doubt that with the power concentrated in their group they good tip the scale easily. The second possibility was that guile would be used to take control of the other nations. The response was the same in this case. They all came back and would cause a ruckus to make Jericho slip up and then he'd be caught or dragged into the open where the new avatar would be able to catch him with little effort.

The next problem in the plan was Lanorit however. His attack on the Water Tribes would shake his followers to the core. In would most likely come down to whomever one would decide their position. With the Avatar on the side of the Water Tribes it was guaranteed that Lanorit would lose. He'd lose his following and Rayk and the others would move in a silence him. The world would unify again because of the common enemy Lanorit presented and the bias against the Fire Nation would disappear.1

The truth about Aang and Sokka and himself would be revealed and they'd be hailed as martyrs. When they came back there would be such an uproar the world would become one again despite whatever Jericho might try.

Now all he had to do was wait for the proper news to come so that the war could begin. A moment later a bat-turn shot through the volcano's peak and shot off towards Sokka once he'd seen him. Sokka sat up bewildered about the intrusion. He unrolled the letter it had and his eyes grew wide and Rayk had to keep a smile from his face because he knew the 'proper news' had come.

Everyone was looking at the letter and Sokka began to explain, "It's from Bato. It says that Lanorit's pressuring the Northern Water Tribe to give his boats protection against us." He looked around before he explained the implications, "Aang, you can't bring Katara back. You do that and the tribe will take it as a threat. They won't and Lanorit might attack."

1 Anyone whose read Book Five knows something you don't.


	8. Low Tide

Instinct's Info: This is where reading Book Five and Six will affect how you like this story. All those odd references in them that weren't canon are going to be coming up soon, not that you couldn't tell. I didn't have a way around them if I wanted to. Speaking of those, Book Five is in need of revision so I apologize to anyone who tries to read it. You can, you just might have to reread a few things. Uploading did some weird stuff to the documents. Anyway, please review. I appreciate getting added as a favourite story or author, but I love reviews more than anything!

Chapter Eight: Low Tide

"Sokka, you're overreacting. Lanorit won't attack; it's not part of his plan at all." Rayk objected before anyone else could. It made him feel terrible lying to them, but he didn't have a choice. None of them would understand the choices that needed to be made. The war against the Water Tribes needed to happen or else Lanorit wouldn't fall.

"You know what he's planning now?" Sokka turned his gaze on Rayk, anger flickering in them. Why would he want to risk his home being attacked?

"Calm down Sokka. Lanorit would need to bring together his entire navy to attack. That would give them more than enough time to get ready to defend themselves. Besides, if the Northern Water Tribe refuses then he still doesn't have a motive to attack the Southern Tribe."

"That's the only place that's still pro-Fire Nation though. He'd take a shot at it the first chance he could."

"But he hasn't yet, besides your people dominate the water. He wouldn't be able to fight on two fronts against people that are completely in their element without a way around it. Do you see a way around water against a nation that's surrounded by it?"

Sokka didn't say anything for a moment then turned to Aang, "We should be okay. Go get her." Aang shot off happily to where Appa was staying. Sokka buried the unease he was still feeling down until he could talk to Rayk in private. Everyone dispersed shortly after that but Sokka stayed where he was and waited for Rayk to be alone.

Azula didn't leave though so Sokka had to make it into a confrontation, "Rayk, I think you need to tell me about this plan of yours." Toph appeared behind him unbidden.

Rayk gave him a hard look before turning to Azula, "You'd be better off not listening"

"You'd prefer to me eavesdrop then?" She asked smugly.

"Don't be mad with me then." She'd never heard his voice so sombre, then he turned to Sokka, "What do you want to know?"

"How are you going to fake your death?" Toph shifted a little, apparently taking her cue to watch everyone's heartbeats.

"It'll happen after another war breaks out." Everyone's eyes widened when they heard that.

"He is going to attack isn't he?!" Sokka was having a hard time keeping the reins on his emotions now.

"Lanorit's plan needs to elements remaining that aren't opposites. He failed with the Fire Nation so the Water Tribes are the next obvious target."

"He's going to attack both of them?!" Anger was boiling up through Sokka now. He'd trusted Rayk and now he was instigating another war.

"I have a question for you." Rayk locked his eyes onto Sokka's to get his full attention, "If you had the choice of saving one person now, or ten people later by killing that one person, which would you choose?"

"I don't _believe _you." Rayk spun around to face Azula, "You're just as bad as I was."

The words stung Rayk deeply, "I'm trying to save lives here! How is that the same?"

"You think you're the only one that can do anything right!" Azula retorted with a little more emotion than normal.

Rayk's voice came down to where it had been when they'd begun, "This is why I do it. No one sees all the reasons but me." He hurried on before anyone could cut him off, "I was trained to think like this, I have part of the spirit of wisdom in me, and I knew that none of you would agree with me on this."

"You think?" Sokka asked, sarcasm dripping from the words.

"Everyone here would save the one person and then look and pray for a way to save the ten others. I've looked, there isn't." Rayk replied a little cryptically.

"We can't trust you anymore." Sokka muttered, more to the others around him than Rayk.

"You're right; you can't trust me as a person. You can trust me to do the right thing when the time comes though. I would give my life to protect this world and the people in it."

Sokka heaved a sigh before he fought out the next words, "You say it or I will. You know why we can't really trust you."

Rayk grimaced before he spoke again, "I've thought things through too far. I can predict what will be happening down to small details, including this. The only thing that I didn't see was what you said Azula."

Azula's face was impassive, "You're not the brightest person out there. We can help you if you let us."

"Fine," Rayk responded immediately, "I'll tell you what I've got so far, but promise me this: you'll follow it unless we find a better way. Oh, and Sokka, this isn't part of the plan."

* * *

"You're coming to get me? " Katara asked back, quite confused by what Aang was telling her.

"Yep," Aang chirped back happily, "You don't need to stay there anymore."

"I don't know if that's a good idea Aang. Some representative of Lanorit is supposed to be coming soon. It could be hard to get away without being seen." Katara's worried expression didn't seem to faze Aang at all. She couldn't figure out why for the life of her.

Aang paused for a moment to think something through, "I think that's why Rayk wants you to leave. He's talking to Sokka about it right now I think."

"Okay," She answered calmly, she'd almost given up on keeping up with Rayk and her brother. They were on a different wavelength than most people, "I'll be packed when you get here. Go through the tundra on top. My rooms near the top so the chances of you meeting anyone aren't high." She didn't really need to say it; they'd talked about it before.

"It'll be great to have the gang back together again." Aang had a dreamy smile when he said it.

"Where are we staying anyways?" She asked. He normally supplied all the details of what he'd been doing, but they'd been strangely vacant this conversation.

"Oh, you'll see." He answered with a mischievous smirk. She pouted a little bit but couldn't keep a smile from her face. If Aang was keeping it a secret it would be an extraordinary surprise.

"So why does Rayk want me gone now?" She asked. She was curious about it, but she was hoping that it would show if Rayk had kicked his bad habit of secrecy.

"Umm, I sort of left before he said anything about that." Aang answered rubbing the back of his neck in ashamedly. He'd really wanted to bring Katara back.

"Dreams aren't good enough anymore?" Katara asked jokingly, gesturing around her as she did.

"Why keep them dreams when they can be reality?" He countered. He shifted his thoughts and their surroundings reshaped into Appa's saddle.

Shortly after that the conversation drifted off and the dream did also once they fell asleep in each other's embrace.

--

Instinct's Info: I don't like the ending so if anyone has a better way of saying that or something similar please let me know. I can't write fluff so any help is appreciated for my pitiful attempts. Reviews are also appreciated very much, as you know (and choose to ignore most of the time!).


	9. Wool Off the Eyes

Instinct's Info: Well thanks again to jellebie for being the **only** reviewer so far. Come on! How hard is it to type a few words! Most of you have stories on here that amount to far more than that. Okay, enough of my griping, on with the story.

Chapter Nine: Wool off the Eyes

It had still taken Aang a few days to reach the beginnings of the North Pole. Appa had flown full tilt since Aang was able to cruise beside him. At the first sighting of ice Aang landed gracefully at the reins and pulled Appa towards the water. Before they hit Aang created a bubble of air around them and the plunged into the water.

Aang took out the compass, just like everyone else had and looked at it. He'd travelled in a straight line towards the North Pole from the Sleeping Zephyr so if he travelled the opposite direction the arrow pointed he should be aimed exactly at the North Pole. He seemed to be on the right path as the number of icebergs that jutted through the water's surface grew steadily as Appa continued to swim.

Appa floated to a stop roughly an hour later when they were faced with the ice gate that blocked the front entrance of the city. Aang paused at the reins for a moment, deciding which way to go. He tugged the reins and Appa turned to the left, swam for a minute then broke the surface of the water cautiously. Aang peered around for trouble from his position on Appa's neck and seeing none made Appa rise into the air.

Once Aang gave the command Appa shot up to the lip of the cliff and was blown away when he was hit with the gale force winds that sped off the lip into the sky. There wasn't anything to slow them down up there and they picked up speed and ferocity until they careened off the tundra and were angled with the wind currents that the water affected. Appa struggled back towards the lip and Aang dove. He created a vacuum in front of him and ploughed straight into the snow and was lost from sight for a moment.

He resurfaced a moment later, "Wait for me around here, okay buddy?" Appa gave a grunt of satisfaction. Aang blew out a cave from the cliff face a moment later. Appa drifted in and lay down to sleep. Appa was okay with a roof over his head as long as it wasn't stone, it felt too oppressive.

Aang tunnelled through the snow slowly until he felt the snow go into freefall when he hit the edge of the cliff ringing the Northern Water Tribe. He stopped it and brought it back up. From his hole high in the cliff he peered towards the opposite side of the city. Not seeing the temple there he made a dome of snow to make his head blend into the snow and stuck his head out and looked along his side.

He spotted it quickly and went back into his tunnels and started towards it. He was close enough to the top of the cliffs that he'd come out into the top floor. The snow seemed to crumble around him when he reached the temple and his eyes flashed around the room to take in his surroundings as quickly as possible.

The room was spartanly furnished with weak fire illuminating the room's corners, leaving the center dark and gloomy. Aang stepped into the room without a noise and the fires illuminating it went out 

with a quick wave of his hand. If anyone was in there with him they would make a noise and alert him. There wasn't one and he concentrated on his feet. He felt the vibrations coming from the rest of the temple with a little difficulty. They rippled up through the floor he was on and he sketched the floors lay out and started to move across it to the door on opposite side of the room.

He went slowly across the room, making sure not to trip over anything on the way. He felt the first pillar that supported the room and slid his hand across it for guidance as he stepped over the lump in the middle of the room. He hadn't felt a pulse or anything else in it so he'd assumed it was a fur rug that they seemed to like. He would not touch anything like that if he could avoid.

Then something changed imperceptibly in the images his feet were giving him. In the second it took him to realize what the lump in the middle of the floor grabbed him by the ankle and yanked hard. Aang kicked at the hand and rolled across the floor once it let go with a grunt.

Aang felt his weight shift involuntarily as he tried to get up. The ground beneath him was changing and before he could do anything it rose up and froze around his feet. His hands were raised to undo the bending and they became frozen in position before he could make good his escape. Aang would have tried melting the ice with fire but he didn't want to risk anyone seeing his face. If that happened there his life would probably get a lot shorter.

There were a few bumps around the room as the person moved around to try and relight the small fires that had lit the room. A minute later one flared to life and Aang got a glimpse of who had trapped him. It was a man, getting on in his years. He had shoulder length white hair to his shoulders, but only at the back of his head.

Aang stared ashen faced as Paku walked towards him, "Don't do this."

Paku grew a genuine surprised look, "What are you talking about?" He waved his hands and Aang felt the ice thaw. "I'm not under the false pretence of whatever nonsense Lanorit is teaching."

"I'm sorry; I think I have snow in my ear." Aang said in disbelief

It took Paku a moment to reply, "You can see with your feet even here, correct?" Aang nodded confirmation, "You didn't feel my heartbeat then. I was in the spirit world that would be why."

Realization dawned on Aang's face and was duelled by his confusion, "Wait, how can...if you were there then you'd know...but wouldn't that...?"

"Katara has a made a point of talking with anyone that makes it to the spirit world. You're lucky you bumped into me and not someone else." His old wry grin played on his face in the dim light.

"She's been in her room all day today. You wouldn't happen to know the reason for that would you?" Paku asked after his last statement sunk into Aang.

Just the barest hint of red crept onto Aang's face, but was hidden by the gloom, "She's waiting for me."

"She's already packed then?" Paku asked, his grin returning to wait for Aang's expected response.

Aang's time around Rayk had made him more aware of the information that he gave out so it didn't surprise him all too much, "I hope she is by now. All she knows is that I'm coming to get her."

The wry grin morphed into a neutral one once he realized he hadn't fazed Aang, "Take care and tread lightly. The world's more volatile now than ever." Paku walked back to the middle of the room and laid back down, "I didn't see anything."

Aang went to the door and concentrated again. He found Katara's room and waited for a pair of people to walk past his door before he opened it. He'd mapped out his way to the room, but he still went slowly, keeping an eye on all the people moving around the temple.

He marched through the wall opposite his door and through the room to its other side. It had the same layout as the one that Paku had been in so he didn't need to be worried about being seen. He repaired the wall he'd come through and skirted the edge of the room just in case. He reached the corner of the room he needed and melted a hole through it.

He dropped down to the ground without a sound and looked around, "Nice room, if you like animal skins." Katara jumped when she heard his voice, partly out of happiness, partly from shock.

"Aang! You made it!" She threw him into a big hug.

"Shh, you're going to tip someone off." He couldn't have tried to make it sound like a reprimand if he wanted to. Having actual contact with her was infinitely better than a dream.

"Sorry, I know." She would have tried to look sorry too if she hadn't known it was impossible to wipe that silly grin for her face, "I've got everything I need already." She hopped back across the room and picked up her bag. It looked like it was made of some poor creatures hide and it made Aang shiver involuntarily.

Aang froze for a second, looking at the ground as he concentrated on a set vibrations, "Katara, we should leave now. Someone's coming." Aang went back to the corner he'd come down in and melted the ceiling. Katara rushed over with her bag and pushed herself through the hole with a stream of water. It collapsed back t the ground again and froze one the ground. Aang jumped through a moment later and turned to bring up Katara's bag.

When he did he heard a faint voice, "Priestess? Chief Hahn wants to speak to you. Are you in there?" Aang brought up the bag quickly before someone came in and saw a bag disappear into the ceiling. When the bag was halfway up he heard the voice again, "Are you in there?" Aang panicked and made the water yank up the bag the rest of the way a little too fast. It connected with the ceiling and a spider web of cracks appeared.

A small section of the ceiling came down just as the door opened. Aang froze the ceiling mid fall and started to raise it back up but it was too late. He saw a diminutive woman come through the door and 

freeze in shock at what she was seeing. Aang abandoned his attempt to cover their exit and launched himself through the now gaping hole in the ceiling and practically bounced off the ceiling of the room above before landing next to a surprised Katara.

Aang grabbed her around the waist, "Hold on tight." He jumped and turned the ceiling into water as he went. He only stopped when they hit the top floor. He started the motions to bring down the ceiling when Katara stopped him and pointed to a wall. She ran for it and started a tunnel and Aang followed her into it, closing it up as they went. Aang felt a grin creep back onto his face; even the action of bending with her gave him a sense of euphoria.

It took them a while to get back to Appa, mainly because Aang didn't have a way of locating him exactly and by the time he felt the edge of the cliff they were off by quite a bit. They continued the tunnel anyway and cut a hole out of the cliff and let the fresh air come in. Aang took out his bison whistle and gave it hard blow. They heard Appa's roar and a moment later he came to a stop underneath them. They jumped down onto his saddle and Aang took out the compass to get a bearing.

"What's that?" Katara asked when she'd moved to her old spot at the front of the saddle.

"It's a special compass. The needle tells where the others are. Right now they're all in one place so I can tell where they are." Aang explained. His hands moved on their own once he had the heading to take Appa's reins, when he looked up though he stopped moving.

"Do you see that?" He pointed to a trail of steam on the horizon. Katara moved to his side and squinted at it. It was coming closer and after a little while you could make out details. It was an Earth Kingdom boat if the green flag off the top of the mast had anything to say about it.

"I didn't know we were having anybody visit us." Katara said as she continued to squint at the boat chugging towards the harbour.

"I bet it's about Toph."

"Why, what happened to Toph?" Katara asked, only curiosity was in her voice. Toph was practically impenetrable in her eyes. Very few people knew her weak spots, which were really only her soft spots. Knowing that wouldn't really help you if you were fighting her.

"She's back with us now. Lanorit panicked and sent a messenger to see if he could get help." Aang replied, no real concern in his voice.

"That's going to be a problem." Katara's shoulder sagged as the repercussions of what they'd just done sunk in, "You were just spotted and no one can find me. They'll think you've taken me away as a threat against Lanorit."

"Sokka was right." Aang muttered under his breath. He continued before he found out if Katara had heard him, "We should stay for a little while to see what happens. I'm betting that Rayk wants to know anyway."

He took Appa's reins and rose to where the wind was whipping off the tundra above. He waved his hands a few times and moguls that would come up to his waist surfaced. The wind reacted badly to its new obstacles and bounced off of them, turning in on itself and just blowing itself out in general. Appa skimmed over the tundra which had gone acquired an eerie silence.

A moment later the silence was broken with noise drifting up from the village they were circling around. They could guess what the uproar was about. They skimmed around the edge of the cliff and set down in the back of the spirit oasis. Appa tried to hide behind the bush there and almost succeeded. If you looked at it head on it appeared to have horns, but that was all and they didn't really have any other choice.

Aang sat down in front of Twi and Lah and began to stare at them. A moment later his eyes shone bright light and Katara caught his body as it started to slump to the ground. She picked it up gingerly and set it against Appa. She lay down against the furry beast and closed her eyes. She went through the steps she would normally for leaving her body and opened her eyes. Aang was standing in front of her with an outstretched hand. She took and came away from her body. Normally the process would take an hour or two, but with someone helping you out it was far easier.

It was strange walking around without having to open anything. Katara tried to open the door out of the oasis, only to realize a moment later how impossible that was. They walked through the small door and continued until they were at what the children of the tribe had nicknamed the 'Snow Fort'. It was where the council that led the village met. There was already a small entourage from the Earth Kingdom coming up the steps.

Hahn and Arnook waited for them at the doorway at the top. Hahn had taken over leadership of the village since the end of the war, but was still getting help from Arnook to compensate for his lack of experience.

The head of the entourage opened his mouth to speak and was interrupted by Hahn, "I'll save you some time: no." The man from the Earth Kingdom kept his mouth open, though only disbelieving noises came out.

"We've lost someone" Hahn explained before words started coming from the other man, "just as you have. Someone more important to us than whoever you lost. Our Priestess has just been kidnapped by the Avatar. It was meant as a threat and we don't want anyone else disappearing. I won't risk my own people to help you police your own waters."

"You disappoint your _friends_ Chief Hahn. Don't think that there won't be repercussions to this blatant breach of our trust." The way the man had answered disturbed Aang. It almost seemed rehearsed. No other words were said so Aang and Katara returned to their bodies, the sense of unease growing the whole time. They got back on Appa and started back onto the compass heading before the Earth Kingdom ship left its berth and had a chance to see them.

* * *

Instinct's Info: I did not think school would slow me down this much. On the bright side I might be able to write this in school. Writer's Craft is an awesome class. Oh, and please review. Could you let a community of a score of people get more input on a story than this site's community of thousands?


	10. A Cause Worth Fighting For

Instinct's Info: Woohoo, I'm halfway there! Well, there's always the chance of the story getting away from me like Book Three did, but I doubt it for this one. Anyway please review. I always appreciate any constructive criticism given.

Chapter Ten: A Cause Worth Fighting For

Although Appa left the Northern Water Tribe at a fair clip he slowed down shortly afterwards. Aang would have loved to take his time getting back to the Sleeping Zephyr, but the feeling of unease he'd acquired when he'd heard the threat spoken to Hahn refused to let him rest easy. Try as he might though, he couldn't keep the feeling from showing on his face.

"So can you tell me where we're going now?" Katara asked in attempt to take him out of his gloom. The subject had seemed to cheer him up before so she figured it could work again.

It worked immediately, "We're just staying with some family." Aang answered nonchalantly; the smile on his face said something else though.

"Hmm," Katara tilted her head back, feigning deep thought, "Are we staying at one of Mai's houses?"

"Nope." Aang answered happily.

"You joined the travelling circus Ty-Lee was part of!"

"Hey, that's an idea!" Aang laughed with her at the idea, "What do you think boy? Wanna join the circus?" He patted Appa on his head and the bison gave a roar of disproval. None of them had learned of his bad experience with circuses while he was carted all over the Earth Kingdom.

* * *

It took a full three days for them to make it back to the Sleeping Zephyr with Appa collapsing on the coast at the end of the third day. Aang left him where he was, knowing that if Appa was tired there were very few forces on this earth that could move him.

"Does Zuko have a house here or something?" Katara asked looking around at the volcanic rock and forest a little further in land.

"Not that we've found so far." Aang replied. He grabbed her hand and led her into the forest. The bugs continued their incessant wines and chirps even with the sun about to disappear under the horizon. The smell of some of the fruit on the trees hung in the air like a veil. It didn't take long to become accustomed to the smell though.

They came to the rock face where the entrance was supposed to be hidden. Toph's new entrance was visible to the side of it still. It irked Aang a little bit she'd circumvented what had taken the air nomads so long to construct in a few hand movements.

"Just whose family are we staying with here?" Katara asked when she saw that she was being led to the tunnel entrance.

"You'll see in a second. Come on, don't you want to sleep on something other than Appa's saddle tonight?"

"I don't know. I kind of enjoyed sleeping on his saddle. It brings back memories." Katara answered, though she could imagine a bed being a little more comfortable than the saddle. She let him lead her into the tunnel and down the passage. It was once they were at the end of the tunnel that Aang realized the flaw in his surprise: the sun was below the opening in the volcano's top so the only light came from the tunnel and the fires that dotted the spires.

"Wow...Aang this is incredible." Aang was mentally kicking himself since Katara could only see what Toph had the first time.

"There's more to it than this. We aren't the only ones living here." As if on cue to this there was a scraping noise ahead of them past where the ledge they were standing on ended. A glider formed in the darkness as the person steering it tried to land. The person turned out to be Zuko when h tipped the nose of the glider up to try and slow it down so he could stop. It wasn't nearly enough and he was forced to run down the ledge with his hands over his head as the glider tried to take off again. Aang sent a gust of wind towards the glider to stop it and Zuko skidded to a stop close enough to knock them over had he taken another step.

"Zuko, I don't try to fly with this little light and I'm an air bender." Aang looked at him with a mix of admiration and worry.

"I was told it was a rite of passage." Zuko said, clinging to the hope that he hadn't been duped.

"And who told you that?" Katara asked. She could list the number of suspects on one hand.

Zuko paused for a second, apparently considering his words, "Well, I saw Azula back in and she told me what she'd been doing. I decided to try it."

"Did you actually see her flying around?" Aang asked though he was pretty sure he knew the answer already. Zuko apparently did too and fire flared from his hands, catching part of the glider on fire. He snuffed it out before it caused too much damaged. A black handprint was embedded onto the middle of the glider.

"Wait," Katara was apparently starting to catch on to what was going on, "since when is gliding in the dark a rite of passage for anyone? The only people I've seen glide are Teo and the others and I know they're still at the Northern Air Temple."

"You haven't told her yet?" Zuko asked, Aang just shrugged his shoulders, "You know you might want to find another surprise, you've milked this one as long as you can."

"Well, I thought we'd get back when there was still light in here." Aang replied slightly sheepishly.

"Em, could someone tell me what's going on here?" Katara asked, feeling like she was interrupting their conversation.

"So what were you planning on now? Waiting until light came back in?" Zuko continued oblivious to Katara's question.

"Well, I was hoping something would kind of strike me."

Katara reached over and knocked on Aang's head, "If no one's going to tell me it might be better to show me instead of just waiting here."

Aang rubbed the back of his neck when he answered, "Yeah, that'd be a good idea." Zuko led the way along the edge, not that it was needed. There were really only two directions to go: forward or down if a particularly masochistic feeling came over you. When they reached the end of the ledge Zuko grabbed the rope and swung towards the fire that marked where you were supposed to land.

Katara moved to take the rope when it swung back and Aang stopped her, "Don't go fast. You can ask your brother why." Aang grinned at the memory of Toph's collision with him. Katara took a deep breath and stepped forward. Somehow walking off a cliff didn't seem natural. She felt her stomach drop out from beneath her as she started to swing and had to concentrate not to yell for the giddy feeling it gave her. She let the rope swing back and Aang appeared out of the dark a few seconds later after he'd secured it back where it had been.

It didn't take long for Aang to find some of his new 'family'. He pretended not to notice them and walked past. Katara did notice however and stopped where she was and stared, trying to find out if her eyes were playing tricks on her.

"Are they..." Katara stopped staring and drove her vision elsewhere. One of them had noticed her and waved in her direction.

She turned and saw Aang with a giant grin on his face, "How could you not tell me about this!" Her reaction surprised Aang enough to make him take a step back. She came closer to him and for half a second he thought she was going to hit him.

Instead she threw him into a hug which confused him a little bit; it didn't really bother him though. After a moment Aang tried to back up; his shoulder was damp with tears and he was worried that he'd hurt her by not telling her. He couldn't really understand why it would but he was paying much attention to that part of his brain at that moment.

"I'm sorry Katara. I won't keep any secrets anymore, okay?"

"You're blinder than Toph sometimes. I'm happy for you." Katara let him go and wiped her eyes clear. Aang's confusion remained on his face, though the fear was gone now.

"I'll make sure to let you know the next time something like this happens, okay?" Aang replied his voice comforting and low. She smiled and nodded and went back into the hug.

It was at this point that Azula walked past, "You know, _generally_ when people act like that it's in the privacy of their room." She received a 'hi, now leave' glare from Katara instead, "Okay, I didn't know the 

laws of public decency don't apply to you." She walked off once she saw Aang's ears turn red. It'd taken longer than she'd expected to happen.

* * *

Aang woke up early like he did almost every morning with a dream buzzing just outside his consciousness. It reminded him of the veiled threat to the Southern Water Tribe and went to see if Rayk was up. He was a light sleeper and usually got up around the same time as Aang did. Aang still had euphoria from being at another air temple and jumped between the spires to go up levels instead of taking the stairs.

Rayk was sitting where he had been when Aang had left. Something was different from Rayk's old position though. Sokka, Toph, and Azula where sitting with him. The fact that Azula was there didn't surprise him all that much, but Sokka's presence was enough too weird him out. The fact that Toph's eyes were even open (not that it really mattered to her) defied all the logic Aang had.

Aang started to ask and was interrupted before he even formed the first syllable by Toph, "It's his fault." She pointed a finger accusingly at Rayk. Rayk just laughed under his breath a little.

"Insight makes you a light sleeper apparently." Rayk answered Aang's unspoken question, "Any threat to the Northern Water Tribe?" Even Toph's ears pricked up when he asked that.

"Yeah," Aang answered uneasily, "there was. I though you said that they wouldn't be attacked."

"I never said that." Rayk corrected him quickly, "I said that if Lanorit moved to attack they would have plenty of warning."

"You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?" Aang felt a little despair creep into him.

"That wasn't a complete truth either." Sokka added sleepily.

"You lied to all of us?" Aang asked in disbelief.

"I didn't think I had a choice. These three can attest to it." He added with a gesture to the three people sitting around him, "I'll explain everything once everyone's up."

"Katara won't be up for a while. Aang probably rocked her to sleep." A smirk crept to Azula's face as she said it. Aang immediately blushed at the memory.

Sokka perked up at that, "What were you doing?" A mix of curiosity and concern colouring his voice.

"Sokka, Aang blushed at the thought of rocking your sister to sleep. Do you honestly think anything they'd do anything irresponsible?" He glanced at Aang after he said it though, "You didn't, right?" Aang shook his head amid another short burst of blush.

* * *

Before breakfast was served Sokka learned of something that he ranked in the top three meats. It'd come over from the swamp benders in the great bog. It involved frying strips of meat without getting rid of all the fat; bacon in other words. It was shunted down the list after Sokka learned the hazards of cooking it, namely the flying fat. Toph got a good laugh out of his antics until she stepped on a globule on the floor. They both promised that they would never attempt to make it.

When Toph and Sokka were finished nursing their wounds the food was served. Nobody ate with the gusto they normally did though. Rayk's plan hung over everyone's head like a dark cloud. Apparently they weren't expecting to like it.

"Okay, I've had enough of the gloom." Rayk said after even Mai's expression had become gloomier than normal, "Whatever you were told I assure you it's not that bad." Everyone perked up at the sound of his voice and stopped eating.

"First, I'm sorry that I didn't tell the whole truth about the Water Tribes and what would happen once Katara was here. I've had some sense knocked into me so don't worry, it won't happen again. Secondly, feel free to ask questions. We need this thing to be fool proof.

"Okay, I believe that Lanorit tried to conduct his genocide on the Fire Nation to set the world on the brink of chaos. If he did that the basis of our world would have to shift away from the elements for it to be saved. The only alternative would be his religion so he'd end up ruling the world. After that Cordow would be able to do whatever he wanted. There's no way to tell what that actually is, though it's a pretty safe bet that we don't want it.

"After he failed with the Fire Nation genocide the only other target would be the Water Tribes. He still needs the Earth Kingdom's backing to attack so he needs to have a reason to attack that they'd believe. I had Toph come here to give him that opportunity.

"If it looked like she was abducted he would be able to call on the Northern Water Tribe for assistance. If Katara was abducted before the request could be made the tribe would be scared to give aid. That would give Lanorit all the reason he needed to launch an assault." Rayk paused to see if there were any questions.

He wasn't disappointed, "How does he expect to be able to fight both Water Tribes? When Zhao attacked the northern tribe he had over half the Fire Nation fleet with him." Zuko asked the scepticism in his voice obvious.

"Every defence has holes. The weakness of the water tribes is also their strength. Everything is made of snow and ice. Start melting it and you can split their force with repairs enough to make a very good go of beating them. Now they aren't going to just let a fleet sidle up and start melting their home so Lanorit's weapon of choice will be something that's not much of a stretch from something they already use. The Fire Nation's fire rocks didn't hold up against the cold, but Lanorit's ships make tremendous amounts of heat, enough to melt even rock. Magma would go right through whatever the Water Tribes defended with. Add that knowledge and ourselves into the equation and his advantage is gone."

"What happens once we're done that though? He'll just find a reason to attack the Fire Nation again." Mai asked, showing curiosity when she spoke.

"There are plenty of people that are close to people from the Water Tribes. Add that to the fact that Lanorit's reason for attacking isn't all that strong and his followers will be shaken. He's anxious to score a victory after we stopped him in the Fire Nation and he'll do something rash. He'll lose his following and go down."

"And after that? We still have your dad to worry about don't forget. I thought were supposed to be looking for a way to get us into the spirit world." Azula leaned her head on her hands, it gave the impression she was looking right into him.

"It'll be done in time, don't worry about it." Rayk answered, a smirk coming across his face for a second as he saw the previous mood was all but gone. Things were back to normal.

* * *

Sokka's Instincts: How is he is going to figure out a mass transportation? Well, you're going to have to wait about five chapters to find out. Not the way you'd think of, I guarantee that! And PLEASE review! I don't have many so far and depression is starting to set in.


	11. End Plan

Instincts Info: This chapter would've been up sooner except my internet has been on the fritz for some reason. It was only just fixed yesterday. I might even have had more done except this coincided with the floodgates of school work opening and almost drowning me. As it stands I should be able to get more updates in now since I can't see the rate I'm getting work to stay this high for long.

Anyway, enough of my complaining. If you're reading this please review it as well. I'll return any I get in kind unless I start getting reviews numbering five or more a chapter. Somehow I can't see that happening with the rate I've been getting them for this chapter.

Disclaimer: I will own Avatar when I win the grand prize of every lottery in existence at the same time.

Chapter Eleven: The Whip

The night mass finished with tumultuous roaring, shaking the temple to its core. It was like that every night though, and Lanorit was beginning to tire of it. It was all too easy for the great masses of people that followed him, it was their ignorance that kept them enthralled with it. He knew what the religious sect was actually used for and it destroyed the spectacle he so used to enjoy creating.

He'd tried to entertain himself with the masses everyday by making new symbols and new aspects for the belief, but that could only last so long and now his creative juices had run dry. A blanket of sadness descended on him as he exited the curtain that had replaced the door behind his podium. It had been one of his first changes. The curtain was a symbol of the ethereal boundary between their world and the higher planes where their lord spirit presided over them.

If he'd thought about when and why he'd started to make changes it would have seemed obvious to him that Cordow had begun to manipulate him. When the Path of Radiance had first been created its hatred had been solely targeted towards the Fire Nation. If Cordow's plan was to succeed then the hatred must be free flowing so it could be directed wherever it was needed.

So it had been for this reason that the invention of the reason for the hatred of the Fire Nation was made. It was because they were non-believers. Anyone who didn't follow the sect (which was practically no one in the Earth Kingdom now) was as bad as them and should be treated as such. Lanorit didn't openly endorse the lynching's that were happening, but he never raised a hand to stop them either.

So now Lanorit was waiting behind the curtain for the news to return from the Northern Water Tribe so he could finally give that hate a direction to flood towards. He breathed in the incense that everyone seemed to adore in an attempt to drift in a reverie until news came. It didn't work and all it got him was a stuffed up nose and the beginnings of a headache.

When news finally did arrive it was only the use of his self control did he restrain himself from jumping up from where he stood and dashing out of the room. Instead he produced a reason to greet the messenger himself and be rid of the overbearing orders that people loved to be suffused in. As he left he silently started to try to think of a way to get rid of them.

He met the messenger in antechamber a few doors from where he'd been and put on his most assured face before entering. The man inside had an expression that seemed to have anger written on it. Lanorit knew him though; it was the man's neutral expression.

"What was there response Sagan?"

"It was as you feared your eminence. They have chosen to turn their backs on their saviours to try and save their own worthless hides." Sagan spat the words out with obvious contempt.

"Don't let your hatred consume you. There are those within the tribe that will be loyal to us, they need only be given a chance. Now tell me, why was it that they denied us aid?"

"Their Priestess was abducted hours before our arrival. They fear for other figures in their tribe." Sagan replied the anger diminished now because of Lanorit's advice.

"And who abducted her?"

Sagan started when he heard that, "Uh, I'm sorry your eminence, I did not stay long enough to discover the culprit." Lanorit kept a smile from his face. When Toph had gone missing it had tipped off to what Rayk was doing. Katara and Toph were the two most important people besides himself to the Path of Radiance. They wouldn't go after him because there were others more fanatical than himself below, waiting to be released.

Katara had been the one that had originally gained him the trust of the Northern Water Tribe. Rayk was probably hoping to gain their trust so he could muster a force to attack the Earth Kingdom. On the other hand, with the identity of the culprit unknown he could produce a reason for an attack to be made on the Northern Water Tribe.

"Why are you so sure that she was abducted then?" Lanorit followed up his last question, forcing doubt into Sagan.

"Well, they said..." Sagan saw the hole in what he'd said as the words came out of his mouth.

"So they could have lied to you then?"

"Yes, but why would they?"

"There were part time workers in the Bei-Fong R&D Department from the Northern Water Tribe." This was a blatant lie, not that he knew it. Bato and the others from Sokka's ship had spread around the idea that's where they were from.

"Add that to the fact that Toph apparently went on vacation with no warning I have grounds to think our friends to the North are cooperating with their sister tribe to the South." Lanorit was pleased with himself. The lie was very good for one he'd made up off the top of his head. He had no doubt, which saddened him, that Katara and Toph couldn't be restrained for very long. That meant that they weren't among the living anymore in all likelihood.

"What must be done then?" Sagan asked with little emotion, the shock at hearing about the betrayal hadn't worn off yet.

"The same course of action as any betrayal gets in the Path of Radiance: execution. I'll give the orders to sail on the Water Tribes immediately." Lanorit answered, the list of answers to the obvious question already scrolling through his head.

"Why are we attacking both?"

"If either of them gets their fleet into the open we won't be able to contain them. If we pin them both at their homes we won't need to keep any of the fleet back as defence, and don't worry about how our split fleet will stand a chance, I have a way. You're dismissed." Sagan stood, bowed and left the room.

"You're sure the engines give off enough heat for this?" Lanorit asked the air around him.

"Yes, although you could still modify the front runners if you don't think it's enough." The shadows from around the room whispered back.

"No, I trust you. It's just that, nothing like this has ever been attempted. The Southern Water Tribe was picked apart before and then the Northern Water Tribe was attacked, never both at the same time."

"What about the Earth Kingdom? Was it not surrounded by its element? The major cities were far closer together than the Water Tribes and they still fell. Little is known about water and its limits; you will use the same tactic and use something they know little about." Cordow whispered back, still refusing to take a solid form.

"You're right." Lanorit replied, noticing the nervous tremble that was threatening to surface. He banished it and continued, "The order will be given at sundown. If we make good time we'll be able to hit them at sun up two days from now. I'll succeed this time; everyone capable of stopping can't show there face now." Lanorit felt the calm assurance he'd used to have so often swell through him again and he stood and left the room.

"You don't have to show your face to fight Lanorit." Cordow whispered back to the empty room.

* * *

"How long will he last against the Water Tribes?" Jericho asked Cordow when the shadows in the cave swirled and came together.

"It doesn't matter how long it take. He'll lose before long though and one of the two that stopped him in his invasion of the Fire Nation will stop him."

"What about the Avatar? If there's a war he's obligated to be in it." Jericho responded, trying to see what he'd missed in where the events led.

"The Avatar was in love with the Priestess from the Northern Tribe. Only he could have abducted her and Rayk will have killed her. A bender that powerful can't be contained for long and she hasn't returned so that would make the Avatar leave whatever group Rayk had. He can't fight in the Northern Water Tribe because they'll still try to kill him and Rayk won't risk losing the one friendly place he has so he'll be in the Southern Water Tribe. That would stop the Avatar from fighting there as well."

"And the things that stopped all of them from just killing Lanorit in the first place will still hold him back." Jericho finished. It was a good plan, there weren't any loop holes he could see and they might even have a chance to clear up the problem of his son trying to kybosh Cordow's next plan. He felt a little twinge at the thought of his son dieing.

"I suggest you capitalize on the unrest the war will create. It'll be a good opportunity to expand Fallen Fire's membership further." Cordow's voice snapped him out of his contemplation and he nodded before standing to leave.

* * *

Instinct's Info: I might be updating again shortly (a day or two) as I'm going to be recuperating from an operation and that's going to give me a lot of 'do nothing' time. As always, reveiws are greatly appreciated.


	12. The Avatar's Resignation

Instinct's Info: Sorry for the lack of an update. Not only was I hit with a bad case of writer's block, I just lost the will to write for quite a while (as you can probably tell). I feel I owe whoever has kept on reading this a chapter though so here you go. I apologize if it's not up to snuff.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately my name is neither Mike nor Bryan. You put it together.

Chapter Twelve: The Avatar's Resignation

Sokka took a few more glances and finished his drawing. He sat back and to look at his handiwork, then focused on what he'd been drawing: Rayk's tattoos. He put his thumb in front of his eyes and focused on it. The drawing was pretty good if he said so himself.

"Okay, let's see what you got." Rayk held out a hand for the pad Sokka had been using. Sokka handed it to him with pride showing on his face.

"Um, I know this got a bit tedious, but did you really have to doodle so much?" Rayk asked, looking at what he thought were doodles sometimes covering entire pages.

"Those aren't doodles; they're the tattoos you have! I put them in there you so you could see all of it." Rayk blanched realizing his mistake.

"Oh, well, thanks, I think." Rayk leafed through the rest of the pages, scanning over the notes.

"Why did you need this stuff anyway? Doesn't that stuff just seal part of Hannya inside you?"

"Yes, but I want to know the mechanics behind it. If I can figure them out I might be able to find a way to get us all to the same place in the spirit world. The mechanics should be something like the reverse of this since we want the reverse of this."

"Couldn't you just draw the designs backwards?" Sokka suggested.

"I don't know if you noticed, but messing around with actual magic hasn't done much for the world. If we screw up there's no telling what might happen." Sokka was obviously interested so Rayk feigned absorption in the notes until he left. After that he redrew the 'doodles' and started to sift through the notes, making connections every once in a while.

* * *

Aang sat at the top of the volcano's cone, looking down the inner slope to the hole that led to the last inhabited air temple. He was one of them and yet here he was, waiting for a letter so he was sure a war had started. Katara sat beside him, knowing that something was eating at him.

"Aang, I know this is hard for you, but we can't do anything to stop it now." She laid a hand across his back in comfort.

"That just makes it worse." He mumbled, more to himself than to her.

"You didn't know what would happen when you came to get me, you can't blame yourself for it."

"How can't I? I wasn't around the last time war started so I couldn't have stopped. This time I was here and it still happened, I even helped it!"

"Look, what Rayk did was underhanded and the blame for whatever comes from this is his. I'm sure that's the way he wants it too. The blame rests with you least of all." Katara had seen him like this enough to know a little sense went a long way for him.

"I know that, but I should've seen it coming." Aang grumbled, though it was half hearted. Katara smiled inwardly, a little more and he'd back to his old self.

"Aang, you're not exactly the brain he is." She chided gently.

"Hey I figured out how to get out of the Cave of Two Lovers didn't I?" Aang gave a sly grin as he said it.

"If I recall correctly that was a joint effort." Katara responded playfully. She shifted closer to him.

"Really, how did that work exactly?" It wasn't really a question and they both knew it. Within a few minutes Zuko climbed out of the hole. He walked up the slope with his eyes pointed towards the sky.

"Toph says to stop now." It was only after he said it that he looked down. Aang started to blush immediately.

"And why didn't she come up and tell us herself?" Katara asked a little upset at Toph for having the gall to actually watch. Even as she said this the tinge of pink started to leave her cheeks.

"She was retching; at least I think she was." Zuko answered with a nervous smile. Aang and Katara shared a knowing look that said 'Zuko's gullible'.

"Ask her if she knows what privacy means for me." Katara asked when Zuko turned to leave before the atmosphere got even more alienating.

* * *

There was an empty place at when dinner was served and it was almost finished by the time it was occupied. Rayk wandered in without announcement and started into his meal without a greeting to anyone let alone an update on his project.

Azula had the decency to wait until he was almost done before speaking to him, "Well, I'm impressed you got it done this fast."

"I didn't think I ate too fast." She glared at him for a second then he caved, "You're getting better at reading me."

"Either that or you're getting soft." She answered jokingly.

"Okay, can we have the update for dummies now?" Sokka asked impatiently.

"Okay, I have some great news and some...let's say just sub-par news to go with it. I did find a way to get us all to the spirit world and it's not at all very complicated." Smiles ringed the table when they heard this, "Don't get too happy, there's a catch. To get us there we need a spirit's help that's here already and my arm isn't going to cover it."

"So just ask the guy that gave the arm to you in the first place." Zuko was a little confused as to what the problem was. The answer couldn't be that easy, could it?

"No, see when spirits come here it's a projection into this world. It's like it's using a puppet and channelling its powers through it. The spirit doesn't actually come here." Rayk explained, his shoulder slumping with a few other pairs around the table.

"Then why say you had a way at all?" Mai asked sullenly, at least that's what everyone thought. It was always hard to tell what she was feeling.

"No, there are a few spirits that live in this world." Aang said, his face slowly lighting up, "Twi and La are in the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole."

"Aang, that's not going to work. Remember what happened last time one of them was taken out?" Sokka pointed out and Aang's smile receded.

"There's also Wan Shi Tong, but if I remember correctly you guys aren't on very good terms with him." Rayk continued after his last statement had sunk in, "The only other one I can think of is sitting right in front of us." That got him a few blank looks.

It dawned on Aang first, "You mean the Avatar spirit right?" Rayk nodded his head, "How is this going to work exactly then?"

"We use something like the tattoos on my arm to let you channel the avatar spirit into yourself. From there you can use the power to get us all there. This is where the problem is though; if you do this the Avatar spirit will be more attached to you than your body and would follow you there. Since you separated it from yourself before you left it probably won't be attached to you any more once we get there, you wouldn't be the Avatar anymore." You could have heard a pin drop anywhere in the volcano.

"I need some time to think so over." Aang got up a little shakily and walked off using the walls for support.

"Thanks for dropping that bomb." Sokka muttered under his breath.

"Look, if any of you can think of any other spirits that would cooperate please tell me. As I see things though this is the only way."

"It's not fair you're asking him this." Shaking her head, Katara couldn't bring her eyes to meet his.

"I know being the Avatar is a big part of who he is but it doesn't mean he has to give up what it entails. He'll lose the ability to bend three elements, but that's it. If I thought he was going to stop being the same guy I wouldn't have even brought it up. Your partially right though, Katara. He probably needs someone to talk to right now." Katara caught the hint and left.

* * *

Katara found Aang in his room, sitting on his bed meditating. Lines of anxiety were brushed over his face faintly. He didn't move to recognize her presence at all so she sat down beside him on the bed and waited for him to talk.

"This is too big a risk to take." Aang said after a long silence.

"Rayk's not going to risk any of our lives when we leave Aang. You don't have to worry about that." Katara reasoned, glad at the chance to get rid of the oppressive silence.

"It's not that. What if the next Avatar isn't a good person? The worlds in enough of a wreck right now and a bad Avatar could really make things go bad." Aang opened his eyes and came out of the lotus position so he could face Katara.

"I don't think you're giving the guy inside you enough credit. The Avatar spirit isn't going to just choose someone at random. It seems to choose the right person for the job each time." She paused for a second then put on a hurt expression, "Do you think anyone from my tribe could be a bad person?"

The second bit startled Aang, "What? Oh, I don't know. I don't think I'd want Sokka taking over the position." Aang waved his arms around to exaggerate his point, "All meat creatures beware the wrath of Avatar Sokka!" Katara gave a short laugh before the conversation deteriorated further from the topic.

* * *

"So do you think she'll get him to agree to this?" Azula asked when she dropped down next to Rayk, dangling her face off the edge into the cavern below.

"No, they'll end up talking about something different. It'll never leave his mind though and seeing her happy is bound give him ideas." Rayk replied airily.

"You're more conniving than I am." The compliment didn't go unnoticed.

"No, I'm just more of a people person than you are. Now where is that message? I expected today." Rayk glanced up at the hole at the top of the cavern before leaning back completely to stare at the ceiling.

* * *

Instinct's Info: Well, what do you think? I'll try to get more up, but no promises. My life is getting busier than it's ever been. As always reviews are greatly appreciated.


	13. Notice

It took me far too long to realize what was happening to Rayk and I'm ashamed to admit it. He's become a Gary Stu. Until I feel that I have the skills to avoid that serious problem again the story's on hold. This could be a while considering I'm heading to University next year. I will start to work on it eventually though and right from the beginning.


End file.
